Tyrese Haliburton poses a new threat to Cavs

The Cavs will have their hands full with Hali.

The Cleveland Cavaliers made quick work of the Miami Heat. Their round one opponent simply didn’t have the manpower to test the Cavs. That will be different against Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers.

Haliburton was an All-NBA player last year and has made consecutive All-Star teams. He led the league in assists a year ago and posted a cool 18.6 points and 9.2 assists per game in the regular season. His control of Indiana’s offense propelled them over the Milwaukee Bucks in five games.

This will be Cleveland’s first legitimate roadblock in the playoffs. The Pacers finished below them in every meaningful category but still pose enough of a challenge to be taken seriously. The best version of the Cavs would win this series comfortably. Anything less than their best punch and things could get interesting.

A brilliant playmaker

The Cavs defense was hardly tested versus Miami. The Heat didn’t have anyone who could crack Cleveland’s shell or problem-solve their rotations. Haliburton won’t have the same issues.

Haliburton is a brilliant basketball player. He reads all five defenders and will punish whoever is out of line. This has already shown in the playoffs. Hali dished 11.6 assists per game versus Milwaukee and his teammates shot 52.9% from three when he was passing to them.

Take a look at some of Haliburton’s kick-out passes in round one. This is a playmaking savant who might have eyes in the back of his head. Haliburton will not only punish Cleveland if they lose focus — but he’ll likely manipulate them into making mistakes altogether.

Compare those passes to some of the tunnel-vision plays we saw in the Miami series. Tyler Herro’s willingness to repeatedly run into a brick wall made that series a sweep. Haliburton won’t be as predictable.

Making Hali uncomfortable

The Pacers have a high margin for error because their offense is so efficient. Haliburton’s able to set the table without turning the ball over. As a result, Indiana ranked third in turnover percentage this season. The Cavs were just behind them in fourth.

In the playoffs, Haliburton is blazing a historic trail. He’s on pace to become the second player since the 2000s to record an assist percentage of 45% while keeping his turnover rate below 12%. Forcing him into errors isn’t easy. But you can catch him by surprise.

Take the following plays as an example. Milwaukee knows that Haliburton wants to penetrate the defense and then pass the ball out to a shooter. In both examples, the Bucks contain his drive and keep their help defenders on the perimeter. This leaves Haliburton with no passing lanes and it results in a turnover.

Haliburton loves to jump when he passes. This can freeze a defense and open up new passing lanes that aren’t always available. It’s part of what makes him so brilliant. But on the other hand — it makes him vulnerable to the turnovers above. If Cleveland can contain Hali’s drive and deny the passing lanes — he’ll force himself into errors.

Pressure Hali to score

Haliburton is not a natural scorer. It’s against his nature to seek his own shot. He only attempted 20+ field goals in three games this season. For context, Donovan Mitchell did it 27 times in fewer minutes.

This doesn’t mean Hali can’t score. He certainly can. But he’s clearly a step below the individual scoring prowess of someone like Mitchell. Again, Mitchell had as many 30-point games against the Heat (2) as Haliburton has in his 20 career playoff games.

Why am I saying all of this? It’s not to slander Haliburton. But it’s to develop a game plan. We know Haliburton can torch you with his playmaking. The jury is still out on whether or not he’s capable of beating you with his own scoring for 4-of-7 games.

This goes back to the previous topic. If the Cavs can successfully deter Haliburton from creating for others — and instead force him into being more of a scorer — then they’ll be dictating the terms of engagement. And once a team forces you to play their style, you’ve already lost.

This won’t be easy against a player like Haliburton. He’ll inevitably work around Cleveland’s defense and force them to adjust. But a game plan doesn’t have to be flawless. The process is the most important part.

Hunt Hali on offense

The final component here is obvious. Cleveland has to hunt Haliburton offensively in order to wear him out. The more he works on defense, the less energy he has to carry the offense.

The Cavs did this to perfection in round one. Herro was relentlessly put into screening actions and spent most of the series scrambling to defend attacks from all angles. Cleveland made him fight for everything, leaving him with less gas in the tank on offense.

This is something Milwaukee simply wasn’t able to do against Indiana. Haliburton was spared from most of the action as he frequently hid on Kyle Kuzma, Gary Trent Jr. or AJ Green. The Bucks only made Haliburton contest 60 field goal attempts in five games, while Herro reluctantly had to contest 62 attempts in four games against Cleveland.

The Bucks failed to make Haliburton work on defense — whether it’s due to a lack of skill or coaching malpractice. Either way, the Cavs are equipped to be better in both categories.

You can rest assured that Kenny Atkinson will target Haliburton. He’ll be involved in screening actions no matter who he’s defending. That might mean Max Strus is screening for the guards. Or handling the ball in a pick-and-roll with one of the bigs. Either way, Haliburton better brace for a far more taxing series in Cleveland.

Strus was responsible for 20 points off-screen assists in round one. That’s the second most of any guard in the playoffs and equal to Rudy Gobert. Sam Merrill wasn’t far behind with 17 points generated from his screens. Watch a handful of these plays below:

It’s easy to see why this action is successful. Defenders are forced to stay attached to Strus/Merrill so as to avoid giving them a chance to catch-and-shoot a three-pointer. This leaves the on-ball defender on an island to navigate the screen on their own. This separation is all a player like Mitchell needs to turn the corner.

Plays like this will keep Haliburton involved on defense. Even if he avoids switching onto one of Cleveland’s guards — he’ll be exposing a weak point by leaving his teammates alone to navigate screens.

The Cavaliers can only do so much to contain Haliburton. Making life difficult for him on defense while tacking on pressure for him to score might be their best path forward.