Tyrese Haliburton Fails Personal Mission as Pacers Fall to Spurs

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jonah Kubicek | Last updated Jan 24, 2025 9:55 AM ET

Since January 1, the Indiana Pacers have been one of the hottest teams in the NBA. Up until their 140-110 beatdown at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday, the Pacers were 8-1 in 2025 and had bounced back from their slow start.

On Thursday, the Spurs certainly had an unofficial homecourt advantage, as the vast majority of Parisian fans in the French-hosted game wanted to see Victor Wembanyama do well. However, Tyrese Haliburton had a personal agenda he wanted to set right.

Unfortunately for the Pacers, he came up short.

During the 2024 Paris Olympics, Haliburton was coming off a career year and was offered a spot on the gold medal-winning team. Team USA dominated the Olympics, but Haliburton played in only three games, recording a total of eight points and two assists.

He did not play in the gold medal game against Wembanyama and the French.

The All-Star point guard set out on Thursday to show the people of Paris what they had missed. In the first quarter, it looked like he was on the way to a stellar game, finishing the frame with a solid five points and four assists.

He would go on to finish with 13 points and seven assists, a far cry from his average of 19 and 9.5 over the Pacers' recent successful stint.

Indiana simply couldn't keep up with San Antonio down the stretch. The Spurs shot a remarkable 50 percent from 3-point range and were feeling the crowd late in the third quarter.

The Pacers will have a shot at revenge on Saturday when they play the second and final NBA game at Accor Arena, again against the Spurs.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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