Tyrese Haliburton Details OKC Thunder Defense Giving Him Fits

Tyrese Haliburton has had the moment of the series, sealed by a rise up mid-range jumper with 0.3 seconds left in Game 1 to steal a game inside the Paycom Center and ensure the Pacers would at worst leave Bricktown with a 1-1 series.

That is exactly what played out as the Oklahoma City Thunder earned a comfortable Game 2 win on Sunday to even the series and send the NBA Finals to Indiana for a massive Game 3 on Wednesday.

While Haliburton has an epic moment in NBA Finals history, he has yet to have a great game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The two in the regular season were forgettable en route to an 0-2 record and that has stayed par for the course in the postseason against Oklahoma City.

In the first two games of this series, Haliburton is 15 points, six rebounds, as many assists and 2.5 stocks per game while shooting 50% from the floor, 33% from beyond the arc and has not attempted a free throw yet this series.

His 13 shot attempts against OKC is his lowest output through the first two games of any series this postseason and if it held through the course of the Finals, would be the second lowest shot diet of this magical run only behind the shortened Cleveland series which featured his lowest minutes per game and two eight attempt nights in the five game set.

As Haliburton labors to get shots off against Oklahoma City, which is a trend continued from the regular season where the Iowa State Product had his lowest field goal attempts per game in the two tilts against the Thunder (Min. two games played), the Pacers need more from its superstar to keep up this storybook run.

Following Game 2, which was made prettier by a meaningless final frame, Haliburton dished on what makes the Thunder's historically great defense so special.

"Defensively, they have a lot of different guys who can guard the ball, fly around. They are really physical. Force the officials to let us play a little bit more. So just got to do a better job playing to their -- I think I've had two really poor first halves. I just have to figure out how to be better earlier in games. But kudos to them. They are a great defensive team but watch the film and see where I can get better," Haliburton explained after Game 2.

The adjustment for Indiana is to find ways to get into the paint, which sets up its bread and butter offense of paint-touch and kick triples to the corners –– an area of the floor Oklahoma City has conceded for two straight seasons.

Though that is easier said than done with the traffic the Thunder force you to play through once you get into the key.

"We have to do a better job of getting to the paint. It's a lot easier said than done. I feel like in the first half we were just moving the ball on the outside and I don't think we had a single point in the paint in the first quarter, if I'm not mistaken," Haliburton said. "So you know, our offense is built from the inside-out, and we have to do a better job getting downhill. They collapse and make plays from there. I thought we could improve a lot there. But yeah, man, they are flying around. They have got great point-of-attack defenders and great rim protectors. We can do a better job, watch the film, and see where we can get better going into Game 3."

How Haliburton adjusts to the Thunder, especially at home, will go a long way in crowning the next NBA Champion.