Off to the Races || Indiana Pacers (2K23)

[ShamWowNY]

Re: Off to the Races || Indiana Pacers (2K23)

[ShamWowNY]

Re: Off to the Races || Indiana Pacers (2K23)

Tonight might be the best night we have all season, Pacers fans. In an absolute barn-burning offensive performance, Haliburton and Co. scored the most points they've scored all season on one of the league's best defenses. In their house. 142-90.

These are the same Bucks that are first in the East, right? I'm not sure they made it out of the locker room for this one. The Pacers were sprinting out of the blocks, taking the first quarter 40 to 21. The Pacers made impact play after impact play on defense, with five steals and two blocks in the opening 12 minutes. It seemed like even the Pacers couldn't believe what was going down, as they were all beaming after every trip down the floor.

"That was fun, no two ways about it," Head Coach Rick Carlisle said. "I think Milwaukee was surprised by our effort, frankly."

The second saw the game slow down a bit, and the Bucks were able to narrow the Pacers lead to seven going into the half as the Pacers shot just 4/20 in the period. I don't know what Rick Carlisle said in the locker room at halftime, but the Pacers came out absolutely firing in the third, playing with even more verve than they had to start the game. A 44-19 third meant the entirety of the fourth quarter would be garbage time.

Of course, the Pacers didn't let up, even as the end-of-bench guys made it into the game. A 43-point fourth quarter closed out what will likely be the best offensive performance from the Pacers this year. And if you turned the game off, you missed this insane alley-oop by Bennedict Mathurin late in the fourth:

Was that the most sportsmanlike play? No. Was it the best moment all season? Maybe. If nothing else good happens this season, we'll always have Benn dropping the hammer on Jrue. See you all in Oklahoma City.

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[ShamWowNY]

Re: Off to the Races || Indiana Pacers (2K23)

[marshdaddy]

Re: Off to the Races || Indiana Pacers (2K23)

Bro can you stop upping the game on design and display? Good lord man, these are gorgeous. Incredible blockbuster trade, even though it's fictional I'm terrified of that Pelicans team. They're way too deep and dangerous. I'm curious how you handle Buddy Hield. Feel like he has major value on the market, and being able to add more assets would be a coup for the solid base you have.

[ShamWowNY]

Re: Off to the Races || Indiana Pacers (2K23)

Bro can you stop upping the game on design and display? Good lord man, these are gorgeous. Incredible blockbuster trade, even though it's fictional I'm terrified of that Pelicans team. They're way too deep and dangerous. I'm curious how you handle Buddy Hield. Feel like he has major value on the market, and being able to add more assets would be a coup for the solid base you have.

Thanks for the high praise man - it's chises like yours that I aspire to. KD-Pels trade was fun to put together and pull off. Took some real tinkering given the limitations of the 2K trade engine (had to make some extra trades with just picks to get every asset where it needed to go), but pulled it off and so far the Pels are playing pretty well - I'm a little ahead in-game of where I've updated here, but they're on a seven game win streak and have only dropped five games since the trade.

I'm gonna be honest - I love Buddy Hield. He's an assassin. He's third in the league in 3PT% on a very respectable 7 attempts per game. I have half a mind to hold onto him, find a PF who can shoot and defend, and try to push for a top-6 spot in the East next year with Hield and JV as the savvy vets complementing the ascents of Hali and Benn. Will definitely do due dilligence on Buddy, but it's no lock to move on as of yet. Hell, the standings are such that we could even make a push for the 10 seed, even at this point in the year.

Trade deadline article coming soon to look at all of the potential moves around the league!

[ShamWowNY]

Re: Off to the Races || Indiana Pacers (2K23)

[ShamWowNY]

Re: Off to the Races || Indiana Pacers (2K23)

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Re: Off to the Races || Indiana Pacers (2K23)

[ShamWowNY]

Re: Off to the Races || Indiana Pacers (2K23)

[ShamWowNY]

Re: Off to the Races || Indiana Pacers (2K23)

[ShamWowNY]

Re: Off to the Races || Indiana Pacers (2K23)

[marshdaddy]

Re: Off to the Races || Indiana Pacers (2K23)

That’s a solid haul for Phoenix. Backcourt gets a little dicey with Fred and Chris, but Fred is long-term insurance for OG. Wonder how big of an upgrade OG is over Mika’s tho.

[ShamWowNY]

Re: Off to the Races || Indiana Pacers (2K23)

That’s a solid haul for Phoenix. Backcourt gets a little dicey with Fred and Chris, but Fred is long-term insurance for OG. Wonder how big of an upgrade OG is over Mika’s tho.

FVV and Trent are both expiring - the Suns may or may not hold on to one or both after this season, but if they walk they only paid a late FRP for two high-powered rentals. Mikal hasn't touched the court since December with a knee injury and is out for the season, so OG is definitely a short-term upgrade, but is likely hitting FA next year (versus Mikal who is signed to a four-year deal). It's a win-now move by the Suns who have a declining Chris Paul and needed more depth (esp. on the wing) to compete with a team like the Pels in the playoffs.

Toronto, meanwhile, is 10th in the East and just lost Siakam for two months. They saw an opportunity to sell high on some expirings and OG, got back a first and the highly-valuable Mikal Bridges, and now will hope to dip into the Wembanyama/Scoot lottery. They're very well positioned to buy or sell this offseason.

The full details of the trade:

Suns out: Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder, Dario Saric, Landry Shamet, 2023 FRP
Suns in: OG Anunoby, Fred Van Vleet, Gary Trent Jr., Otto Porter Jr., 2023 SRP, 2024 SRP (POR)

Raptors out: OG Anunoby, Fred Van Vleet, Gary Trent Jr., Otto Porter Jr.
Raptors in: Mikal Bridges, Grayson Allen, Dario Saric, Landry Shamet, 2023 FRP

Bucks out: Grayson Allen, 2023 SRP, 2024 SRP (POR)
Bucks in: Jae Crowder

[ShamWowNY]

Re: Off to the Races || Indiana Pacers (2K23)

Last week, Tyrese Haliburton was named to his first career All-Star Game (to the horrors of Szczerbiaks everywhere). Last night, he sabotaged the maiden voyage of the freshly-remodeled Phoenix Suns with 41 points, a career high. Oh, and did I mention his 20 assists?

One of the season's finest showings led the Pacers to a 124-106 win. Sure, I'll concede it wasn't as efficient as his 25-25-1TO game earlier this season (he had six turnovers), but Haliburton scored with impunity - he shot 15-20 from the field (3-4 on threes) and 8-8 from the line.

Adding 20 assists makes it one of the greatest ever showings from a floor general, bar none. Only two players, Oscar Robertson (x2) and Tiny Archibald, have scored 40 and assisted 20 in the same game. For context, those three instances happened before the NBA added the three-point line. In the last 20 years, a 35-21 game from Wizards-era Russell Westbrook is the only showing that even comes close.

There was plenty of reason to believe this game would run the opposite direction, with OG Anunoby, Fred VanVleet, Gary Trent Jr., and Otto Porter taking the floor for the first time as Suns. Of course, that's not what transpired.

It was clear from the jump that the Pacers were out for blood, with Haliburton attacking Chris Paul off the dribble and pushing the pace in transition. When he checked out with 1:22 remaining in the first, Haliburton was outscoring the Suns 20-19, plus seven assists. By the end of the first quarter, Indiana had doubled Phoenix's point total of 23 with 46.

"I can't lie, it was motivating to see the guys they added at the deadline taking the floor," said Haliburton. "I knew we had a strong gameplan and could push the pace on them."

The halftime deficit of 31 was the worst Phoenix has faced all season. A valiant comeback effort was mounted in the second half, and the lead was shaved to 10 with 8:42 remaining. Alas, it was clear that Phoenix has plenty work to do to integrate their new additions, as they quickly lost the brief rhythm they found. While Fred VanVleet led Suns scorers with 26 and added nine steals (tied for the most in a game this season), he and his teammates communication was evidently lacking on defense.

"We'll get there," said Phoenix Head Coach Monty Williams. "Was this the result we wanted? Of course not. But it's day one in a new system for four of these guys. I believe in them and in us."

The quartet formerly known as Raptors weren't the only players making a debut - Saddiq Bey took the floor for the first time in a Pacers uniform, adding a gritty double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Fellow trade deadline add Frank Kaminsky did not dress for Indiana.

But enough about players who didn't have a historical performance. Tyrese Haliburton did something we've seen only three other times in NBA history. In fact, this third 20+ AST game of the season puts Haliburton in rarefied air with peers like John Stockton, Magic Johnson, Isaiah Thomas, and Russell Westbrook.

We are in a golden generation of young talent in the NBA - the mind-melting wizardry of Luka Doncic. The acrobatics of Ja Morant and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The two-way skill of Jayson Tatum. Is it time to include Tyrese Haliburton in the same breath?

Should we ask Wally Szczerbiak for his thoughts?

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