Led by franchise star Tyrese Haliburton, the Indiana Pacers have one of the most exciting young teams in the NBA. The youth is definitely showing for Indiana this season as they own one of the more enigmatic offenses in the NBA. With one of the best facilitators in Haliburton running the show, Rick Carlisle has transformed the Pacers into an offensive juggernaut.
In fact, Indiana is coming off a game in which they put up 152 points on the scoreboard when the team blew out Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs last Monday. The Pacers were absolutely on fire that game as they shot a scorching 57.9 percent from the field and made 20-of-38 three-pointers.
Sure, the Pacers entered the season as a budding young team that could sneakily make some noise in the Eastern Conference. However, nobody expected them to be this loud early on in the season, especially on the offensive end, where they are just absolutely going off. The Pacers' juggernaut offense has certainly been the most pleasant surprise for the team early in the 2023-24 NBA season.
Pacers most pleasant surprise this 2023-24 NBA season: Their juggernaut offense
The Indiana Pacers boast the best offensive rating in the NBA. They were just 21st in the league last season, which makes this offensive leap quite surprising.
The Pacers are near the top of the league in several offensive categories through the first couple of weeks of the 2023-24 NBA season. Apart from being No. 1 in offensive rating, they also rank first in points per game, first in assists per game, first in field goals made per game, and third in three-pointers made per game.
Additionally, they are also the fourth most efficient scoring team in the NBA at 49.6 percent shooting and No. 3 in three-point percentage at 39.2 percent. They've also been great at taking care of the ball, as they rank sixth in turnovers per game.
Apart from their efficiency, this team also has a preference of playing fast. They jack up the most shots in the NBA on a per game basis and are No. 2 in pace.
The Indiana Pacers are the only team this season to record
— More than 80 points in a half
— 50+ points in a quarter pic.twitter.com/lkLWqinkRj— StatMuse (@statmuse) November 7, 2023
Tyrese Haliburton has most certainly been the head of the snake for this Pacers squad. After inking a massive five-year $260 million contract extension this summer, Haliburton is proving he deserves every single penny of that deal. In six appearances so far this season, Haliburton is averaging 24.0 points on 49.0 percent field goal shooting, 40.0 percent three-point shooting, and 9.2 percent from the freethow line while dishing out a league-best 11.7 assists per contest.
Everybody is eating
But Indiana hasn't been just a one-man show. In fact, six Pacers are averaging double-figures so far this season.
Myles Turner is having another efficient campaign and is averaging 16.7 points on 53-41-78 shooting splits, good for a true shooting percentage of 64.0 percent.
Despite his apparent trade demands in the offseason, Buddy Hield has remained locked and loaded and is one of the main reasons why the Pacers are flourishing offensively. The veteran sniper has connected on 46.2 percent of his three-pointers so far this season.
Bruce Brown, Bennedict Mathurin, Aaron Nesmith, and Jalen Smith are all averaging a little over 11 points per game for Indiana. In addition, two other players — Obi Toppin and Andrew Nembhard — are scoring at least eight points per game as well.
As you can see, the Pacers' have a pretty even scoring distribution across their roster. With an elite table setter like Tyrese Haliburton running the show, anybody is capable of popping off and contributing every single night.
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