What really happened to Haliburton?

It's not often that you see a game where the difference between an All-Star point guard and a backup point guard on the team is so wide.

The Pacers lost to the Hornets, who lost eight in a row, and Haliburton played 36 minutes, shooting 4-of-10 from the field and finishing with nine points, 2 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 blocks. TJ McConnell played 25 minutes, shooting 14-of-19 from the field, finishing with 30 points, 1 rebound, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.

I'm more funny, I deliberately counted it, this is the fifth time in Haliburton's first 25 games of the season that he has played a game without a double-double in all statistics, referred to as "three singles". At the beginning of the season, Haliburton also had a game in which he lost all his shots and scored zero points.

Although the Pacers only lost by 4 points in today's game, the Pacers would have lost even more ugly if it had not been for the performance of backup point guard McConnell who scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the final quarter. 30 points is a career high for McConnell, and the 32-year-old veteran point guard is still surprising fans.

And what Haliburton brought to the fans was disappointment since the start of the season. Prior to today's game, Haliburton averaged 22.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game in the last eight games, shooting 49.6% from the field and 42% from three-point range.

You think Haliburton has picked up, but in fact, the water in these eight games is a bit big. The eight opponents are the Wizards, Pelicans, Trail Blazers, Pistons, Grizzlies, Raptors, Nets, and Bulls. With such a simple schedule, the Pacers only got 4 wins and 4 losses.

Haliburton's performance is also quite regular. For example, playing a bad team like the Wizards, Pelicans, Trail Blazers, and Raptors, the defensive intensity is not high, and his three-point hand can also be good. When facing a Western powerhouse like the Grizzlies, Haliburton quickly delivered a performance of 2-of-9 from three-point range and 8 points and 7 assists in a single game.

Of course, there are exceptions, such as today's encounter with the Hornets, who are half injured in the main team and have a hard time winning in the past eight games, Haliburton also failed to show the ability to "stabilize the game". He shot 0-of-4 from three-point range, and although he scored 4 from inside the three-point line, the game looked worse than the stats.

Haliburton is now a typical "feel-type" guard, the three-point feel is open, how to play is comfortable, the opponent does not dare to give him so much space to shoot, and he does not have a hard time to protrude.

But if he doesn't score three points like today, he will play extremely uncomfortable. With his current explosiveness, it is difficult for him to get rid of defenders by dribbling, and there is no way to change the defensive formation by relying on individual ability.

The reason why Haliburton was amazing last season was that in addition to his excellent touch, the Pacers gave him a completely offensive lineup, with five people just having to pick up the speed, increase the number of rounds, and throw the ball in. This all-offensive lineup has caused some impact in the league, but it is not a long-term solution after all.

So the Pacers got Siakam and started fighting positional battles. Perhaps Haliburton's magic began to fade away from that time. Later, Haliburton was affected by a hamstring injury, and his speed dropped a notch, and his level naturally dropped.

For a run-and-gun point guard, a big cut of speed is too deadly, and this season's three-point drop has further amplified the speed problem, so Haliburton has lost all his magic and become more and more mediocre, and some games are completely dragging down the team.

As for the defensive end, even Haliburton at his peak was a single defensive hole, and no one expected Haliburton's body to defend against anyone. The drop in lateral speed only made Haliburton's already poor defense worse.

The key to the problem on the defensive end is attitude, Carlisle is estimated to be numb to Haliburton's single defense, but if Haliburton is still a breakthrough in defense under the system of joint defense, it is really too bad, attitude is everything.

Haliburton is having a hard time making excuses for his hamstring injury right now, and let's not forget that he played in the Olympics, and even if he didn't make it much, his fitness must have passed the assessment of the U.S. team. As for the long indulgence after the Olympics, it is also my own choice.

For Haliburton, there was probably a "I've worked so hard, what about pleasure." After signing a contract of more than 200 million, you can enjoy it for a lifetime, and it is normal to have the hard work of starting a business in the early stage after a successful business.

Give you a chance to choose, and you will undoubtedly choose to lie flat, but the vast majority of people in this world do not have the right to choose. Of course, if you choose to lie flat, you lose the qualification to continue chasing greatness.