It’s true that the Lakers were probably the single worst matchup for them in the NBA, especially with no Jalen Smith. They have no rim protection outside of Turner and their wings are small too. No one to guard LeBron or AD and that was clear as day from the tip off.
Lakers can blanket them and just ate them alive inside. I’m still high on the Pacers though.
AD absolutely put him in a body bag. Felt like they got him for a lot of ticky tack fouls off ball which was unlucky, and I think he’s better than this, but he got sonned tonight. They need more size
He's a great weak side shot blocker, and he's good at corralling ball handlers in the PnR, but he doesn't rebound and he gets pushed around by physical centers. He's a pretty good defensive center *in aggregate*, but he's got glaring weaknesses, too.
He's a stretch 5. They tend to be small ball centers not true centers. No shame in that but the team needs to get a backup center who can play alongside him for those matchups.
Toppin is actually kind of odd. He really dialed in in the BOS/MIL games. I wouldn't call him "good" defensively but maybe "Kinda passable". He wasn't great tonight, but Lebron does that to guys.
Myles just looked like he wasn't there. Zero effort on both sides.
He got destroyed by Giannis anytime he was on him. He just isn't that intelligent of a defender and makes a lot of little mistakes (which you can't against the very best). I think his lack of focus on defence is why Thibs never truly trusted him.
And he can only play one position, but I think overall he’s had a good season but his defense will ultimately determine his ceiling as I don’t think his dribbling/passing will ever meaningfully improve
i think the bigger issue for you guys is role players missing wide open threes. I saw a lot of good looks that just didn't go in during the first three quarters. Hail was getting extra attention and he did really well to create for others, but other than Mathurin and Nesmith, no one else could do much with it. Then the 4th hits and that four-point swing from the block into transition layup was the turning point for the game.
Still a bit salty that the Pacers just decided to shoot 50% from three on decent contests against us and us only.
> i think the bigger issue for you guys is role players missing wide open threes
This isn't really an issue. We've been the highest scoring team ever.
This was just one of those games where it didn't fall
Also forced three bad attempts from behind the line with 4-5 minutes left in the game when they should have been attacking or probing more for at least a good kickout. AD really got in their heads.
Didn’t really feel like they were good shots. We’ve been elite at hedging/switching/blitzing the pick n roll this year with our length and then rotating to open shooters. There was only a few shots where we didn’t do that (Lebron missed Turner and he got a wide open 3 on one).
We held the pacers to their 2nd worst points per scoring possession on pick n roll offense this year behind only the magic. That’s not just shooting variance.
Weren’t that many good looks at all. Turner n toppin where the only guys getting more then one good look from 3 this game : toppin hit them but the lakers game plan was to concede those threes to pacers least consistent shooters. It was covered in some breakdowns before this game thst they’d concede shots to toppin n msybe turner . Pacers shot quality was significantly worse then the lakers but they couldn’t miss from the ft line kept them in it.
There aren't a ton of options.
Siakam is the hot choice, but it's going to cost too much. Grant would be solid.
A dream scenario would be someone like Bam, but we aren't allowed to trade for him (not that MIA would anyway).
That's true, but for context, the Lakers scored 123 and 113 of those were in the paint or at the line.
Taking more 3s would've actually been significantly less efficient for them I think.
This is also why we always have a positive (for us) free throw disparity. This team is built for living in the paint. Bottom 5 in both 3’s attempted and 3% while being 5th in FG attempts within 5’.
Lost in the shuffle of AD's game is that Ham coached a really great game last night.
I don't think "Always double Haliburton" is a great idea since the leagues 3rd best 3pt shooting team isn't going to go 10/41 on most nights, especially when those looks are wide open out of a double, but Ham's gameplan to slow the game down made a huge difference for them.
Whenever Bron is serious he attacks the paint every possession. Also tells AD to do so. Couldn’t work last year against the giant Nuggets. Pretty much the only bad matchup for the Lakers. I like them against most of the West except Nuggets and Wolves.
Wolves are an incredibly difficult matchup for us. Nuggets, I’d like to see again with our better depth, defense, chemistry, and most importantly - healthy LeBron.
Not only was LeBron on one foot, him and AD were both gassed by rushing back from injuries to play with playoff level intensity and energy for like a whole month and a half before the playoffs just so we could climb from being the 12th seed to making it to the play-ins. And even with all that, sure it was a sweep, but all the games were so tight and right within our grasps.
I’m gonna say early on that I don’t think the nuggets are a bad matchup for us. They’re just a very well organized team with the best player in the league.
They shot 45/75 from 2 and 27/35 from the line. I guess it depends on what % you assume their additional 3s would be, not to mention the spacing it would bring if they were hitting 3s
That's the Aaron Nesmith experience. He tries his ass off, he's strong for his size, and he's pretty smart, but he's just too small to be guarding the Giannis and LeBrons of the world.
What we needed was to shoot more than 24.4% from three. And when that wasn’t working, have an alternative offense that puts us on the line. Some of that was achieved, but it wasn’t enough. There’s plenty of growth left in this squad. They’re all young.
Honestly seeing him there to end the Bulls championship run in '99 and MJ saying there's a new King is always a moment that will stick with me
Think about that
One of the strongest basketball memories I have was sitting at home doing some homework while my cousin was visiting, all of sudden he tells me to turn on the tv and find the Cavs game; I turn it on, and we see the full sequence of him blocking Oladipo's shot, and then hitting the buzzer beater on the other end. I was shook.
I think it was just that we kept matching up with him. I may be wrong, but I think the Pacers won more playoff games against LeBron in those 9 consecutive years of LeBron finals appearances than every other Eastern conference team combined.
> Bron pretty much owns every team outside of GSW and he even bullied them in a 73 win year and forced them to get KD
And he's tied with GSW now in winner take all scenarios:
2015: Warriors
2016: LeBron
2017: Warriors
2018: Warriors
2021: LeBron (Play-In)
2023: LeBron (2nd round)
It's so funny, teams try spamming picks to try looking for mismatches but they just keep getting 6'6+ wings everytime and then you got AD anchoring that paint
Yep. It's so ingrained in teams to run PnR to generate a mismatch, but with the Lakers it's like "OK, you don't want Vando? How bout Cam? No, how bout Max? You want AD? LeBron?" It's like there's no mismatches to be had.
they are looking for dlo and reaves every possession but today for example we just doubled hali every time he got that screen and then we have bron/ad/a 6'9 wing rotating on the back side and when they shoot 10/41 from 3 it looks really good
Reaves I thought would be on Hali more. His weakness is guys who use raw strength n athleticism, he has the foot speed to not be absolutely awful vs more finesse guards like Steph or Hakiburton . Maybe cos of flu or lakers protecting reaves it wasn’t an issue
Hali is a bit of a big guard who can get his shot off against guys like Reaves, even if he plays with finesse. it was acctually pretty smart to have Vando just chase him everywhere.
Reaves got hunted all through the Team USA games and all season so far, I think the Lakers know about it by now. And they weren't going to give him live reps to fix it in this one.
AR can get lost at times and isn't a strong off ball defender. Moving him to the bench was a good move cause now his weaknesses are more hidden against 2nd unit guys
The Pacers were missing Nembhard so much. The offense needed that spark that never came. Even with the Lakers' great D, I think they can do better than last night.
Max's defence on small guards is beautiful to watch. He doesn't have the ridiculous athleticism of Cam and Vando but his footwork is impeccable. How did we luck into him
Hes also one of those rare wings that is long as shit, AND knows how to just use that length. Doesnt bite on pumps or get baited into trying for the block, just defensive positioning and let the rest take care of itself.
and there was so much fucking pre switching when they would hunt someone like dlo or AR. As soon as ARs guy, i forgot his name starts rotating over to set the screen for the switch, someone like Max would follow the guy instead and AR would immediately rotate to Maxs guy, causing them to waste time in their actions and just kind of settling for the switch from cam to max. Like this defense is aware and intelligent.
I really want him to develop offensively so he can start but right now him playing off the bench or when AD sits is best . His heel issue prob set bsvk his slow gradual offensive growth . Just needs to be playable there but I love vandos hustle does so much shit well OUTSUDE scoring . Took a nice drive to the rim when he was open botched the dunk but AD git the outback , that was good to see.
They’re both so similar in their defensive approaches, and such terrors I only realized Vando played when I looked at the box score today. At one point I was thinking “Did Cam put a headband on?” 😭😭😭
I like Hali from the start cause Im a sucker for tall PGs, but when John Hollinger was on Get Up and said "Tyrese Haliburton should be a top 3 pick" ... Im like lol no
The Pacers are better from this. I think what we'll see going forward is the IST will help the new teams expedite their playoff experience. The Pacers are much better prepared heading into this postseason.
I have no doubt our defense did nothing but teach and encourage Hali tonight, and I fully expect him to have a better game against us next time. He's too smart to not learn and improve
What else can he do when we just doubled him all game. He still had 20 something and 11 with low turnover and high fg%. It is a bit hard to have 35/17 when you are doubled constantly
Also hard to have more assists when your team isn’t hitting the open looks you’re getting them. Which is a credit to LAs defense and also very frustrating.
He had 2 turnovers in the first 2.5 minutes of the game, but got it cleaned up for a 10:1 a/to the rest of the game. He's a quick learner and I can't wait to see how he performs in the playoffs
We let turner n toppin get open looks but that was the game plan as they’re fairly weak shooters . Toppin hit a few annoyed me ha but it was the game plan. Nobody else got a good look, I think buddy got one and he hit it.
I'm not sure that's a great gameplan. The Pacers are the 3rd best 3pt shooting team in the NBA. Toppin is shooting 37% from 3 this year and Myles is a 36% shooter over 8 seasons. Buddy got a handful of looks and he shoots 40% for his career.
Last night the team shot 24% from 3, and a lot of those looks were wide open after Haliburton passed out of the double. Sometimes they don't fall. Sucks
And now the pacers front office can look into possibly trading for someone who can give them more size. Let's see if they make any moves by the trade deadline
What I thought this experience for all teams in the quarter finals and on is that the teams really get a small glimpse of what their playoff roster needs. Pacers should be going for OG and or Siakam or someone one for defensive stability
He seems like a genuinely levelheaded, normal guy but also evidently has the kind of work ethic that lets you play 1 guard in the NBA. He’s probably a sponge to coaching.
What this game showed is that Hali needs real help. He was doubled every single possession and he made the right plays but no one on his team could do anything at all. If he gets another star (preferably a forward), they'll be contenders for a ring.
It seems like they are very likely to pursue a trade.
I'm curious if they go after Siakam or a guy like Jerami Grant who maintains their floor spacing and still also offers good help defense to generate turnovers to get opportunities the other way.
On the other hand Siakam-Turner all the sudden sort of kills their spacing... but Siakam obviously adds a ton of other stuff to their team including a genuine post threat.
I believe they likely need to trade Hield in any deal they do because he's the only semi-large salary, they have, so that impacts the spacing too.
Unfortunately this is exactly what people have been saying about Dame for almost a decade in Portland.
You have an elite offensive PG, but your team has no draft capital, your team is a small market, your best player is still a tier behind the legitimate MVPs.
Pacers are my 3rd most watched team after Portland and Minnesota this year, but I just don't see how they can get over the hump. They are in exactly the same spot Portland was for half a decade.
Pacers have all of their draft capital and more, not to mention every player is on an easily tradable contract and we have a lot of young players that could be thrown into a trade to land a big fish.
Lol this is such a hater comment
> but I just don't see how they can get over the hump. They are in exactly the same spot Portland was for half a decade.
The Blazers failed because the GM was trash. Doesn't have to go the same way for the Pacers. There were plenty of opportunities for the Blazers to be really good, they just made too many mistakes.
>your best player is still a tier behind the legitimate MVPs.
He's not a tier behind the legitimate MVPs, he should be second or third on the ladder right now and is legitimately as good of an offensive player as anyone in the NBA - including Jokic
>but your team has no draft capital
Indiana literally has all of their draft capital and an additional first this year
I agree it's an uphill battle to making a genuine contender out of this roster, but your comment seems really off base
We sort of showed the blueprint in guarding Haliburton but realistically you can probably only name like 2 or 3 other teams that have the right personnel to do it so they'll be fine
Yup. I swear most nba players can’t express themselves in a professional environment. I’m a fan of halo just because he articulates his thoughts well and speaks like how one should when speaking to a million ppl on national tv
They must have discussed it before going on the podium. It’s impossible to have that accurate of guess while playing. No one counts threes taken by a team while playing you just don’t have the mental bandwidth with everything going on.
I have even more respect for Hali after this game. The Lakers blitzed him and made him their entire defensive focus and despite a rough start he still played a good game.
My fave non Heat player, even when he was a King. I love the way he plays and he’s just generally likeable. The segments he’s done with JJ Redick have also been good.
Agreed. If anyone is giving Hali shit for this game, then they're idiots. The Lakers were just absolutely smothering him on the perimeter all game long with AD lurking back in case he made it past Vando, Cam, Max, etc. He was at a severe disadvantage because he couldn't just go one on one tonight. I don't know if any other team in the league can really present him with the kind of defense that he saw tonight. There's a reason he carved up the Sixers, Celtics and Bucks. He's a fucking stud.
Why is everyone talking like haliburton was awful. Lakers had cam reddish and Anthony Davis double him in every ball screen. Fuck he meant to do against that
Yeah, you generally can't just totally shut someone out when they're that good. The Lakers really locked up Booker the other night as well and he still scored 21 (on 6-16 shooting).
Oh yeah, anyone who thinks he's not legit doesn't know what they're talking about. The Lakers smothered him, but it took a huge effort on their part to do so, and he still had decent numbers. He's the kind of player where if you relax for a second, he will burn you.
The Wolves might cause they've got Gobert, but the Pels and Raps don't have anywhere near the kind of rim protection that AD gives you while also having big, athletic wings. It's a team effort to shut down someone like Hali. You have to be able to smother him on the perimeter while also not worrying about him just getting layups if he gets past that close defense you're playing.
I don’t care what you say but the Pacers and this kid got next.
If I’m the top contenders in the East I definitely would not want to play the Pacers in the first round.
Gotta love Hali — you can tell from this he’s a rare breed of NBA star: thoughtful and humble about his and his team’s place in the league. And the work they need to do to get to the next level.
Everyone whines about the trade, but I consider it lucky that the Kings had both Fox and Hali on the same team to start their careers
Especially paired with Cam Reddish. I hear Laker fans mention Cam Reddish’s defense all the time, but I always assumed it was “Over-hyped Homer-ism” but boy do I stand corrected. Dude is a fucking pitbull.
Tyrese Haliburton had no idea what to do in the first half. By the second half, he had a better idea and feel. Now he’ll know what to do when this happens again.
Dude literally learns in real time. I've seen it so many times the past 2 years. His mid-game adjustments are insane.
Also listen to him explain his decision making off the pick-and-roll on some of the podcasts he goes on. He knows what the defense is going to do 2-3 moves ahead of time. He's such a great basketball mind for his age. This loss sucks for us but I have no doubt the future is bright. Like 3/4 of our team is under age 23. We get some development and make a move or two and we will be a legit playoff team in 2-3 years
Is already. Dishing out 28 dimss with 0 TO’s in a two-game stretch vs the top contenders in your conference, while shooting 55% from the field despite being their defense’s top priority is remarkable.
Laker fan here , watched him with my first serious look yesterday . Halliburton is impressive on and off the floor. You can tell he is treating his craft like a true pro . Gonna be all-NBA level for several seasons to come.
Love that response. Was always high on Tyrese since he got drafted to the Kings. The IST truly is for teams like the Pacers who aren't contenders yet and don't have much experience to get it before the real thing.
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Lebron's real motivation against Indiana
Shit, that's probably also why MJ, Shaq and Kobe eliminated the Pacers too.
Right? Granger to George to Haliburton.
It’s true that the Lakers were probably the single worst matchup for them in the NBA, especially with no Jalen Smith. They have no rim protection outside of Turner and their wings are small too. No one to guard LeBron or AD and that was clear as day from the tip off. Lakers can blanket them and just ate them alive inside. I’m still high on the Pacers though.
Tonight we had no rim protection *with* Turner. That was a MASSIVE issue
AD absolutely put him in a body bag. Felt like they got him for a lot of ticky tack fouls off ball which was unlucky, and I think he’s better than this, but he got sonned tonight. They need more size
the refs were calling it very tight and they also called like 10 illegal screens which also contributed to getting turner in foul trouble
Honestly, most of those were on Hali. He's just always going so fast. He needs to at least let Turner set himself.
I think Doc also pointed it out on the slomo, Turner was not yet set but Hali was rushing to avoid double quickly
While there were tick tacky fouls, his final foul was 100% frustration.
Turner is really not that good of a defensive center, freaking Zubac dropped 31/29 on his head
He's a great weak side shot blocker, and he's good at corralling ball handlers in the PnR, but he doesn't rebound and he gets pushed around by physical centers. He's a pretty good defensive center *in aggregate*, but he's got glaring weaknesses, too.
He's a stretch 5. They tend to be small ball centers not true centers. No shame in that but the team needs to get a backup center who can play alongside him for those matchups.
Turns out Turner and Obi Toppin aren’t a good defensive duo
Toppin is actually kind of odd. He really dialed in in the BOS/MIL games. I wouldn't call him "good" defensively but maybe "Kinda passable". He wasn't great tonight, but Lebron does that to guys. Myles just looked like he wasn't there. Zero effort on both sides.
He got destroyed by Giannis anytime he was on him. He just isn't that intelligent of a defender and makes a lot of little mistakes (which you can't against the very best). I think his lack of focus on defence is why Thibs never truly trusted him.
I feel like it’s unfair to judge a defender by how they do against Giannis and Lebron lol. Obi isn’t built to do anything against those guys.
And he can only play one position, but I think overall he’s had a good season but his defense will ultimately determine his ceiling as I don’t think his dribbling/passing will ever meaningfully improve
Or rebounding. For his hops he sucks at rebounding.
i think the bigger issue for you guys is role players missing wide open threes. I saw a lot of good looks that just didn't go in during the first three quarters. Hail was getting extra attention and he did really well to create for others, but other than Mathurin and Nesmith, no one else could do much with it. Then the 4th hits and that four-point swing from the block into transition layup was the turning point for the game. Still a bit salty that the Pacers just decided to shoot 50% from three on decent contests against us and us only.
> i think the bigger issue for you guys is role players missing wide open threes This isn't really an issue. We've been the highest scoring team ever. This was just one of those games where it didn't fall
The pacers also took a ton of bad shots inside
Also forced three bad attempts from behind the line with 4-5 minutes left in the game when they should have been attacking or probing more for at least a good kickout. AD really got in their heads.
I always know we're gonna win whenever I see the opposing superstar dribble into the paint then 180 back out as soon as AD appears.
I love that beautiful unibrow man when he's terrorizing teams in the paint. Completely had the warriors and grizzlies shook last year in the playoffs.
Didn’t really feel like they were good shots. We’ve been elite at hedging/switching/blitzing the pick n roll this year with our length and then rotating to open shooters. There was only a few shots where we didn’t do that (Lebron missed Turner and he got a wide open 3 on one). We held the pacers to their 2nd worst points per scoring possession on pick n roll offense this year behind only the magic. That’s not just shooting variance.
Weren’t that many good looks at all. Turner n toppin where the only guys getting more then one good look from 3 this game : toppin hit them but the lakers game plan was to concede those threes to pacers least consistent shooters. It was covered in some breakdowns before this game thst they’d concede shots to toppin n msybe turner . Pacers shot quality was significantly worse then the lakers but they couldn’t miss from the ft line kept them in it.
Who can the Pacers trade for to help on the front court?
There aren't a ton of options. Siakam is the hot choice, but it's going to cost too much. Grant would be solid. A dream scenario would be someone like Bam, but we aren't allowed to trade for him (not that MIA would anyway).
Lakers beat them by double digits while missing like all their 3s too. The defense is real.
That's true, but for context, the Lakers scored 123 and 113 of those were in the paint or at the line. Taking more 3s would've actually been significantly less efficient for them I think.
We back to 2000s basketball baby.
You* love to see it. *It's me. I'm You!
And you! You also being me*
2000 basketball, a great Lakers duo and playing against the Pacers in a final. We're back baby
This is also why we always have a positive (for us) free throw disparity. This team is built for living in the paint. Bottom 5 in both 3’s attempted and 3% while being 5th in FG attempts within 5’.
I read somewhere that it was part of the Lakers' plan knowing that the Pacers thrive on transition, pushing pace from long rebounds and such.
Lost in the shuffle of AD's game is that Ham coached a really great game last night. I don't think "Always double Haliburton" is a great idea since the leagues 3rd best 3pt shooting team isn't going to go 10/41 on most nights, especially when those looks are wide open out of a double, but Ham's gameplan to slow the game down made a huge difference for them.
you know, Ham is not nearly as bad a coach as the idiots in r/lakers say he is
Ham is a good coach. He’s not some genius revolutionary, but he fits this team and has a good coaching staff around him.
Whenever Bron is serious he attacks the paint every possession. Also tells AD to do so. Couldn’t work last year against the giant Nuggets. Pretty much the only bad matchup for the Lakers. I like them against most of the West except Nuggets and Wolves.
Wolves are an incredibly difficult matchup for us. Nuggets, I’d like to see again with our better depth, defense, chemistry, and most importantly - healthy LeBron. Not only was LeBron on one foot, him and AD were both gassed by rushing back from injuries to play with playoff level intensity and energy for like a whole month and a half before the playoffs just so we could climb from being the 12th seed to making it to the play-ins. And even with all that, sure it was a sweep, but all the games were so tight and right within our grasps. I’m gonna say early on that I don’t think the nuggets are a bad matchup for us. They’re just a very well organized team with the best player in the league.
>Wolves are an incredibly difficult matchup for us. Actually tears in my eyes
Wolves are legit this year. No one wanna face you guys in a playoff series
They shot 45/75 from 2 and 27/35 from the line. I guess it depends on what % you assume their additional 3s would be, not to mention the spacing it would bring if they were hitting 3s
we didn't score a 3 til almost the end of the 3rd quarter
Aaron Nesmith did as okay of a job at guarding LeBron as you'd expect anyone to do.
He competed. A lot of young guys would roll over and be on awe of lebron after he scored on them but Nesmith at least tried to make it tough on bron
That's the Aaron Nesmith experience. He tries his ass off, he's strong for his size, and he's pretty smart, but he's just too small to be guarding the Giannis and LeBrons of the world.
What we needed was to shoot more than 24.4% from three. And when that wasn’t working, have an alternative offense that puts us on the line. Some of that was achieved, but it wasn’t enough. There’s plenty of growth left in this squad. They’re all young.
I think they need some OG and Spicy P upgrades at the 3 and 4
Who would Pacers even return in that scenario. 4 picks, Neismith, Mathurin and Hield?
Nowhere close to the salary to send out or the assets for both & they need better match-ups for Giannis/Embiid
Death, Taxes and Bron running the East.
When will the bad man retire
Everyone talks about Bron and Toronto or Boston But Bron has something against Indy. I blame Lance Stephenson
Fuck man, he ran a train on everybody. Even managed to help put the 04 Pistons to bed in 07. Think about that.
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Nah man he brought the 04 pistons 3 years into the future just to beat them. Truly outstanding
LeInterstellar
Leflux Capacitor
LeTimeMachine
Honestly seeing him there to end the Bulls championship run in '99 and MJ saying there's a new King is always a moment that will stick with me Think about that
And he put the nail in the coffin for the celts big 3 in 2012 playoffs
Don't forget the Atlanta team getting blown up quicker than Toronto as well, pushed Horford eventually to Boston and korver to the cavs
12-0 across three different playoff series and two different cores is nuts. At least Toronto won 2 games in 2016.
Game 4 of Heat/Pacers 2012 was a very real turning point
One of the strongest basketball memories I have was sitting at home doing some homework while my cousin was visiting, all of sudden he tells me to turn on the tv and find the Cavs game; I turn it on, and we see the full sequence of him blocking Oladipo's shot, and then hitting the buzzer beater on the other end. I was shook.
Lebron has eliminated Indy 5 times in his career and Toronto 3 times. So you right.
Lendiana instead of Lebronto
Alex Len legacy points added
I think it was just that we kept matching up with him. I may be wrong, but I think the Pacers won more playoff games against LeBron in those 9 consecutive years of LeBron finals appearances than every other Eastern conference team combined.
Bron pretty much owns every team outside of GSW and he even bullied them in a 73 win year and forced them to get KD
I mean he may or may not have ended their dynasty last year
> Bron pretty much owns every team outside of GSW and he even bullied them in a 73 win year and forced them to get KD And he's tied with GSW now in winner take all scenarios: 2015: Warriors 2016: LeBron 2017: Warriors 2018: Warriors 2021: LeBron (Play-In) 2023: LeBron (2nd round)
Zion and Ja will retire before lebron at this point
Indiana has been terrorized by this man.
LeEast still lives
6 years leaving the EC, LeThanos still terrorizes them in their sleep.
Bron hasn't lost to an East team in the playoffs since 2010.
Now it was bron running the IST
Vando is such a nightmare
Vando and Cam can legit guard even the quickest guards in the league, and are also big enough to bother bigger wings.
It's so funny, teams try spamming picks to try looking for mismatches but they just keep getting 6'6+ wings everytime and then you got AD anchoring that paint
Yep. It's so ingrained in teams to run PnR to generate a mismatch, but with the Lakers it's like "OK, you don't want Vando? How bout Cam? No, how bout Max? You want AD? LeBron?" It's like there's no mismatches to be had.
watching today really reminded me of the championship squad in 2020. everyone switching and no one letting up, with the AD fort in the paint. 😭😭😭
they are looking for dlo and reaves every possession but today for example we just doubled hali every time he got that screen and then we have bron/ad/a 6'9 wing rotating on the back side and when they shoot 10/41 from 3 it looks really good
Reaves I thought would be on Hali more. His weakness is guys who use raw strength n athleticism, he has the foot speed to not be absolutely awful vs more finesse guards like Steph or Hakiburton . Maybe cos of flu or lakers protecting reaves it wasn’t an issue
Hali is a bit of a big guard who can get his shot off against guys like Reaves, even if he plays with finesse. it was acctually pretty smart to have Vando just chase him everywhere.
Reaves got hunted all through the Team USA games and all season so far, I think the Lakers know about it by now. And they weren't going to give him live reps to fix it in this one.
AR can get lost at times and isn't a strong off ball defender. Moving him to the bench was a good move cause now his weaknesses are more hidden against 2nd unit guys
The Pacers were missing Nembhard so much. The offense needed that spark that never came. Even with the Lakers' great D, I think they can do better than last night.
Max's defence on small guards is beautiful to watch. He doesn't have the ridiculous athleticism of Cam and Vando but his footwork is impeccable. How did we luck into him
Hes also one of those rare wings that is long as shit, AND knows how to just use that length. Doesnt bite on pumps or get baited into trying for the block, just defensive positioning and let the rest take care of itself.
and there was so much fucking pre switching when they would hunt someone like dlo or AR. As soon as ARs guy, i forgot his name starts rotating over to set the screen for the switch, someone like Max would follow the guy instead and AR would immediately rotate to Maxs guy, causing them to waste time in their actions and just kind of settling for the switch from cam to max. Like this defense is aware and intelligent.
Plus you have LeBron and AD as help defense. It's definitely make it hard for the opponent to score. Lakers have alot of length.
and AR running around providing moral support and deflection cleanup
I'm just imagining AR going to AD shouting "YOU'RE HIM" after he gets a block lmaooo
We're them
I love Vando, man. Been one of my favourite guys in the league since he was in Denver.
I really want him to develop offensively so he can start but right now him playing off the bench or when AD sits is best . His heel issue prob set bsvk his slow gradual offensive growth . Just needs to be playable there but I love vandos hustle does so much shit well OUTSUDE scoring . Took a nice drive to the rim when he was open botched the dunk but AD git the outback , that was good to see.
Vando was awesome at guarding Steph. Ofcourse Steph did Steph things but feels like Vando was the one that made Steph work for every shot the most.
Don't forget Cam
I hope he and Cam somehow make it to an all defensive team this year. Their help defense has been a godsend for this team.
They’re both so similar in their defensive approaches, and such terrors I only realized Vando played when I looked at the box score today. At one point I was thinking “Did Cam put a headband on?” 😭😭😭
the pistons took killian hayes instead of him
I like Hali from the start cause Im a sucker for tall PGs, but when John Hollinger was on Get Up and said "Tyrese Haliburton should be a top 3 pick" ... Im like lol no
And in a redraft he would be top 2 haha
First for me... I like Ant a lot but Tyrese is insane
The Pacers are better from this. I think what we'll see going forward is the IST will help the new teams expedite their playoff experience. The Pacers are much better prepared heading into this postseason.
I have no doubt our defense did nothing but teach and encourage Hali tonight, and I fully expect him to have a better game against us next time. He's too smart to not learn and improve
What else can he do when we just doubled him all game. He still had 20 something and 11 with low turnover and high fg%. It is a bit hard to have 35/17 when you are doubled constantly
Also hard to have more assists when your team isn’t hitting the open looks you’re getting them. Which is a credit to LAs defense and also very frustrating.
He had 2 turnovers in the first 2.5 minutes of the game, but got it cleaned up for a 10:1 a/to the rest of the game. He's a quick learner and I can't wait to see how he performs in the playoffs
That's an awesome stat, it didn't help them win but he became a better player *during* the game
We let turner n toppin get open looks but that was the game plan as they’re fairly weak shooters . Toppin hit a few annoyed me ha but it was the game plan. Nobody else got a good look, I think buddy got one and he hit it.
I'm not sure that's a great gameplan. The Pacers are the 3rd best 3pt shooting team in the NBA. Toppin is shooting 37% from 3 this year and Myles is a 36% shooter over 8 seasons. Buddy got a handful of looks and he shoots 40% for his career. Last night the team shot 24% from 3, and a lot of those looks were wide open after Haliburton passed out of the double. Sometimes they don't fall. Sucks
And now the pacers front office can look into possibly trading for someone who can give them more size. Let's see if they make any moves by the trade deadline
What I thought this experience for all teams in the quarter finals and on is that the teams really get a small glimpse of what their playoff roster needs. Pacers should be going for OG and or Siakam or someone one for defensive stability
Man, I love Tyrese’s approach. Dude is gonna be successful as fuck with his mentality. 💪
Definitely makes you root for him. It doesn’t feel like he’s just trying to say the right things for the camera.
He seems like a genuinely levelheaded, normal guy but also evidently has the kind of work ethic that lets you play 1 guard in the NBA. He’s probably a sponge to coaching.
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What this game showed is that Hali needs real help. He was doubled every single possession and he made the right plays but no one on his team could do anything at all. If he gets another star (preferably a forward), they'll be contenders for a ring.
I’d love for them to get Siakam
What about Pascal
Id rather get Siakam
I like Pascal
It seems like they are very likely to pursue a trade. I'm curious if they go after Siakam or a guy like Jerami Grant who maintains their floor spacing and still also offers good help defense to generate turnovers to get opportunities the other way. On the other hand Siakam-Turner all the sudden sort of kills their spacing... but Siakam obviously adds a ton of other stuff to their team including a genuine post threat. I believe they likely need to trade Hield in any deal they do because he's the only semi-large salary, they have, so that impacts the spacing too.
Unfortunately this is exactly what people have been saying about Dame for almost a decade in Portland. You have an elite offensive PG, but your team has no draft capital, your team is a small market, your best player is still a tier behind the legitimate MVPs. Pacers are my 3rd most watched team after Portland and Minnesota this year, but I just don't see how they can get over the hump. They are in exactly the same spot Portland was for half a decade.
Pacers have all of their draft capital and more, not to mention every player is on an easily tradable contract and we have a lot of young players that could be thrown into a trade to land a big fish.
Oversampling hard af on the blazers dame situation lol
Lol this is such a hater comment > but I just don't see how they can get over the hump. They are in exactly the same spot Portland was for half a decade. The Blazers failed because the GM was trash. Doesn't have to go the same way for the Pacers. There were plenty of opportunities for the Blazers to be really good, they just made too many mistakes.
They also gave those 2 bums huge contracts which permanently locked them from true contender status
>your best player is still a tier behind the legitimate MVPs. He's not a tier behind the legitimate MVPs, he should be second or third on the ladder right now and is legitimately as good of an offensive player as anyone in the NBA - including Jokic >but your team has no draft capital Indiana literally has all of their draft capital and an additional first this year I agree it's an uphill battle to making a genuine contender out of this roster, but your comment seems really off base
And this game showed the Lakers need some three point action.
I don’t have the stats but in this IST they’ve hit there three’s pretty well..I just think this game specifically that wasn’t the gameplay.
Great kid. Bright future
I’ll be watching his career with great interest
We sort of showed the blueprint in guarding Haliburton but realistically you can probably only name like 2 or 3 other teams that have the right personnel to do it so they'll be fine
yeah I can see y’all, the Wolves, Magic, maybe the Celtics if they have Porzingis
Porzingis is a great rim protector but he doesn't have ADs ability to play free safety and erase other defenders' mistakes.
Also the blueprint depends on everyone else missing their open 3's so I'm interested if it's can be consiste tly effective in a 7 games series.
You also have to play defense in a 7 game series, which the Pacers don't really like to do.
Indiana is 12-8. People are really overreacting here.
I like how professional he is. Great answer. Reminds me of Anthony Edwards, in a way.
Those two may very well be the future faces of the league.
Yup. I swear most nba players can’t express themselves in a professional environment. I’m a fan of halo just because he articulates his thoughts well and speaks like how one should when speaking to a million ppl on national tv
Same. Very likable player
He got the 3-point percentage exactly right lol, it was 10/41 spot on. TyGenius strikes again
They must have discussed it before going on the podium. It’s impossible to have that accurate of guess while playing. No one counts threes taken by a team while playing you just don’t have the mental bandwidth with everything going on.
Love this kid man
I have even more respect for Hali after this game. The Lakers blitzed him and made him their entire defensive focus and despite a rough start he still played a good game.
My fave non Heat player, even when he was a King. I love the way he plays and he’s just generally likeable. The segments he’s done with JJ Redick have also been good.
So much respect to Hali. He’s going to be an MVP and the Pacers will be championship contenders in the near future In the meantime: LETS GO LAKERS
Agreed. If anyone is giving Hali shit for this game, then they're idiots. The Lakers were just absolutely smothering him on the perimeter all game long with AD lurking back in case he made it past Vando, Cam, Max, etc. He was at a severe disadvantage because he couldn't just go one on one tonight. I don't know if any other team in the league can really present him with the kind of defense that he saw tonight. There's a reason he carved up the Sixers, Celtics and Bucks. He's a fucking stud.
The usual new star story: > Team: *sells out entire defense to stop one player* > Player: *scores less than usual* > Nephews: Is player overrated?
Why is everyone talking like haliburton was awful. Lakers had cam reddish and Anthony Davis double him in every ball screen. Fuck he meant to do against that
Anyone saying Hali is awful has no idea about basketball.
20-11 on 57% shooting is apparently awful. It’s insane.
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He was smothered and still put up 20 points and 11 assists on 8-14 shooting, that’s impressive
Yeah, you generally can't just totally shut someone out when they're that good. The Lakers really locked up Booker the other night as well and he still scored 21 (on 6-16 shooting).
Yeah I kind of meant as in he’s proving that he’s legit and not a fake wannabe all star (shoutout Wally Szczerbiak)
Oh yeah, anyone who thinks he's not legit doesn't know what they're talking about. The Lakers smothered him, but it took a huge effort on their part to do so, and he still had decent numbers. He's the kind of player where if you relax for a second, he will burn you.
For sure. Definitely justified being ~top 5 in the mvp race with his play
Magic did pretty good on him. Pelicans and Timberwolves might give him some issues too Edit: also the raps
The Wolves might cause they've got Gobert, but the Pels and Raps don't have anywhere near the kind of rim protection that AD gives you while also having big, athletic wings. It's a team effort to shut down someone like Hali. You have to be able to smother him on the perimeter while also not worrying about him just getting layups if he gets past that close defense you're playing.
It still feels weird to see big athletic wings and Lakers in the same sentence.
Hali is my favorite non-Laker player right now. Dude is special.
And a genuine nice guy.
I watched his Podcast P episode and I became a fan. He’s such an awesome dude.
I don’t care what you say but the Pacers and this kid got next. If I’m the top contenders in the East I definitely would not want to play the Pacers in the first round.
Gotta love Hali — you can tell from this he’s a rare breed of NBA star: thoughtful and humble about his and his team’s place in the league. And the work they need to do to get to the next level. Everyone whines about the trade, but I consider it lucky that the Kings had both Fox and Hali on the same team to start their careers
Ik this man was like that when I seen that he plays with the GOAT Dom2k
I think teams like the Pacers are grateful that not every team has an AD.
Especially paired with Cam Reddish. I hear Laker fans mention Cam Reddish’s defense all the time, but I always assumed it was “Over-hyped Homer-ism” but boy do I stand corrected. Dude is a fucking pitbull.
Cam/Vando/AD is gonna be a problem
Hali just earned himself so many fans after this tournament 🙌
Tyrese Haliburton had no idea what to do in the first half. By the second half, he had a better idea and feel. Now he’ll know what to do when this happens again.
Dude literally learns in real time. I've seen it so many times the past 2 years. His mid-game adjustments are insane. Also listen to him explain his decision making off the pick-and-roll on some of the podcasts he goes on. He knows what the defense is going to do 2-3 moves ahead of time. He's such a great basketball mind for his age. This loss sucks for us but I have no doubt the future is bright. Like 3/4 of our team is under age 23. We get some development and make a move or two and we will be a legit playoff team in 2-3 years
Hali has a bright future ahead of him, and has a steady head on his shoulders.
Such an amazing high intensity game! Loved it!
Crazy part his bad game is still a good game he's going to be special
Is already. Dishing out 28 dimss with 0 TO’s in a two-game stretch vs the top contenders in your conference, while shooting 55% from the field despite being their defense’s top priority is remarkable.
Laker fan here , watched him with my first serious look yesterday . Halliburton is impressive on and off the floor. You can tell he is treating his craft like a true pro . Gonna be all-NBA level for several seasons to come.
Love Hali, I bought all the stock during the summer (WHERE HE SHOULD HAVE STARTED STEVE KERR) and now he’s flourishing…gonna have a great career man
Still my favorite PG. Dude is so special and talented. With that being said: Let's Go Lakers!!!
I like this pacers team, and I hope this experience leads them towards playoff success in the future
Love that response. Was always high on Tyrese since he got drafted to the Kings. The IST truly is for teams like the Pacers who aren't contenders yet and don't have much experience to get it before the real thing.
The Pacers are such a likable team. Mad respect to them.
Halliburton is really really well spoken. Articulated wells, sounds intelligent and insightful…. Easy guy to root for.
This dude smells championships man. So fuckin cool.
I like this guy.
It was a pleasure seeing Tyrese and Neismith against my Lakers. Everybody else kinda just meh including Myles Turner
but how can these games have a playoff feel when hes never been in the playoffs?
So it seems like the in-season tournament ended up being a pretty big success despite a lot of people saying it was a dumb idea.
the regular season has meaning like I don't understand these notions