After a slow start to the season, the Indiana Pacers have found a groove and are now seventh in the Eastern Conference with a 20-18 record. There were a few things that went wrong with the Pacers, which included injuries and not finishing close games. Tyrese Haliburton was also one of the reasons for the Pacers' struggles, and he recently admitted it.

“I got too caught up in outside noise and allowing myself to think such negative thoughts about myself internally,” Haliburton shared with The Athletic. “It was the first time in my life that I had real self-doubt behind everything I was doing. … I feel like my personal struggles were leading to the team’s struggles.

“A lot of our games early, that we were right there to win, I just wasn’t playing my best basketball and I think that was taking away from us winning games.”

The Pacers made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, and one of the biggest reasons was the play of Haliburton. He made a name for himself as one of the rising point guards in the league, and many expected him to build on that this season. It didn't start the way he wanted, but now it looks like he's finding some consistency. That bodes well for the Pacers, and it wouldn't be surprising if they continued to climb the standings.

Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton starting to find success

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Tyrese Haliburton came into this season not as healthy as he probably wanted to. He suffered a hamstring injury last season that caused him to miss some of the Eastern Conference Finals, and months later he was a part of Team USA for the Paris Olympics. That didn't give him much time to recover, because the NBA season was starting to ramp up as right after they came back.

That may have been a part of Haliburton's struggles, along with him getting inside his own head, but it seems like he's getting back to where he wants to be. That's a plus for the Pacers, who have big aspirations for having more success than they did last season.

The Eastern Conference is a tight race after the No. 2 seed, and anything can happen where teams suddenly rise and fall. All it takes is one bad week and the Pacers can see themselves back down in the standings, or they can run off some more wins and get higher.