Haliburton has entered a bottleneck, is the strongest point guard worthy of the name?

After the mid-season, Haliburton was worse and less of a personal attacking threat. During this period, the Pacers had a record of two wins and five losses, and had fallen to eighth place in the East, only one more game than the Bulls, who were in 11th place, but fortunately lost fewer games, so that they could stay in the top 10. Interestingly, the Lakers who beat them have also been in bad shape lately, with only one win and five losses after winning the midseason, and they are at risk of missing out on a four-game losing streak. So what exactly are the Pacers going through, and why is the decline so fast? The simple summary is that opponents know and value their core players better, and only Haliburton reaches superstar level will the Pacers have hope.

The Pacers' opponent in this round is the Grizzlies, who finished second in the West last season and are only third from bottom this season, and the reason for such a big contrast is that Morant is suspended. Now that Morant is back from the ban, the Grizzlies are a competitive team again. The starters sent by the Pacers in this game are Haliburton, Turner, Topin, Hield and Brown, and no players are injured at the moment, so they can send the strongest lineup. The Grizzlies fielded starters with Morant, Bane, Jackson, Biyombo and Williams, with Smart and Kennard out injured. The two teams share a similarity in that a core player leads a group of characterful role players, and the final competition is the strength of the leader.

Haliburton and the superstar are facing each other, and their individual scoring ability is not outstanding enough.

The following is a comparison of Haliburton and Morant's statistics in this game, although Haliburton's assists continue to double-double, but he has many turnovers and a low shooting percentage, scoring a total of 17 points, which is far from enough to help the team win. Morant, on the other hand, has a stronger ability to control the court and is comfortable in the regular season. Although Haliburton and Morant are about the same age and are representatives of the younger generation, Morant became famous earlier and has already experienced All-Star and playoff workouts, while Haliburton is much worse in this regard, and his current playoff number is still zero. What Haliburton needs to improve is experience, and if you go into detail, that person's offensive means need to be strengthened.

Haliburton's fourth-quarter stats in the last six games (Haliburton missed once, and there were two other points that were too wide of a point difference, and he clocked out in the third quarter: 0-of-1 shooting against the Bucks, 1 point on 0-of-2 shooting against the Clippers, and 2 points on 1-of-5 shooting against the Grizzlies.

Haliburton has not scored 20 points in four consecutive games, although he is a playmaker-oriented defender, but the individual score is still too little, after all, he is a star player, he can't score on his own at critical moments, and the effect of relying on teammates is certainly not ideal. If you simply look at the data, it feels like Haliburton is almost incomprehensible, but he also has a lot of problems, mainly because he lacks the ability to tear apart the opponent's defense, relies too much on shooting in the decisive moment, and there are still too few means to score.

The Pacers are averaging 127.1 points and 30.7 assists per game, both of which rank first in the league, and they are the most efficient team on offense.

With seven teammates averaging double-digit points per game under Haliburton, he could well be the assist leader. Haliburton's biggest weakness is his offensive ability, not that his scoring ability is bad, but he has to be stronger. Haliburton's ceiling determines the Pacers' ceiling, and Haliburton's importance is self-evident if this team wants to maintain that level of offense in the playoffs.

Now opponents are very serious about Haliburton, and they have begun to develop a targeted defensive strategy, using the best defensive resources on him, and this is the only way to become a superstar, facing the toughest defense, see how Haliburton cracks.

Haliburton still has a long way to go, and if he wants to break through the bottleneck, he has to be stronger, so what does he need to improve? I think Haliburton needs to increase his singles ability, develop his own characteristics and efficient offensive style, and be able to step up as a star when his teammates are not feeling good, if he can't do that, then Haliburton can only be a flash in the pan.

This season, Haliburton played 24 games, averaging 33.2 minutes per game, with 24.3 points, 4 rebounds and 12 assists while shooting 49.8% from the field, 40.9% from three-point range and 86.7% from the free throw line.

Haliburton is on a four-year contract and has a total salary worth less than many stars earn in a year, and currently earns only $4.2 million a year, ranking 271st in the league. Haliburton is great value for money, but the expectations are very high for him right now, so it's not enough to put in such a performance. Fans who like him also have to look at his growth sensibly, Haliburton has yet to prove himself at a high level, and it is too early to be named something like the No. 1 point guard in the East. Don't be complimented, keep working hard to improve your abilities, as long as you have this mentality, Haliburton will definitely break through the bottleneck and step into the ranks of superstars.