The NBA playoffs continue with the Knicks hosting the Pacers today. In the end, they defeated the Pacers 121-91, leading the Pacers 3-2 in the series. In this game, Brunson, the star of the Knicks, scored 44 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists to help the team win. Hart had 18 points and 11 rebounds. On the Pacers' side, Siakam chipped in 22 points and 8 rebounds, and Haliburton scored 13 points and 5 assists on only 9 shots in the game.
In this crucial battle of Tianwang Mountain, it was clear that Brunson did his best, scoring 44 points to lead his team to take the lead. On the other hand, Haliburton, as the leader of the team, did not stand up to fight back. He only took nine shots in the game, which was unacceptable to the fans. As the star of the team, he only made nine shots in such a crucial game. It's obviously irresponsible, it's obviously evasive, and he doesn't step up and carry the team on his shoulders.
For Brunson, this game is about carrying the team on his shoulders, and he has to shoot a lot of shots whether he feels good or bad, because he knows that this team will rely on him to score again and again to establish an advantage. Haliburton did not have this mentality, but blindly avoided it, not daring to take the initiative to attack. And he also played very badly on the defensive end, without any leader temperament at all. After today's game, the American media also took a sharp criticism of Haliburton. He is considered hesitant on the offensive end, inactive on the defensive end, and completely unthreatening off the ball. It doesn't seem to have any presence on the pitch at all.
You must know that Haliburton is praised by many as the future supergiant of the league, and is praised by many as the top five players in the league in the future. But does he really live up to expectations with such a performance? Of course, there are also many fans who believe that Haliburton has always been an overrated player, because the way he shoots can be concluded that he will not be an offensive player.
First of all, his shooting style is very peculiar, somewhat similar to Curry's shooting style, but Curry's shooting speed is completely lacking. In other words, his shots are extremely slow, very disjointed, and very vulnerable to defensive interference. Even a good defender couldn't shoot at all when he was defending him. And his style of play is not very confrontational, and there is no good chance to finish when he bursts to the basket. So a lot of people think that Haliburton isn't destined to be a good finisher, he's not going to be a superstar.
It's true that you can't be a supergiant by passing the ball alone. Haliburton still needs to improve in the future. If he wants to make his offense more inexplicable, he may have to look to Curry. He has to learn Curry's quick shooting ability and strong off-ball running ability so that he can adapt to different levels of defense.