Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton is happy with the immense progress they made in the 2023-24 season, but he's not satisfied with it. At the end of the day, they didn't win a championship.
When the season started, many didn't expect the Pacers to make it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals. They failed to make the playoffs in the previous 2022-23 campaign with a 35-47 record. While they were projected to improve, only the Indiana faithful probably believed that they would become among the last four teams standing come the postseason.
Haliburton acknowledged that they exceeded all the expectations on them before the campaign started, and he's definitely ecstatic with the big steps they have taken as they continue to develop into a title contender. However, he emphasized that their mission is far from over. He knows they have another level to achieve, and that's where their focus is now as they navigate through the offseason.
“Man, it was a great year. It was a great year for us as a team, me individually, of course, but we know there’s another step for us to go, and obviously not satisfied with just Eastern Conference Finals. We want to do a lot more,” Haliburton said while reflecting on the 2023-24 season they had, via Scott Agnes of Fieldhouse Files.
“I think you can say we're ahead of schedule in our rebuild, but we know what we're capable of and our goal is to get right back where we were this year and do more.”
Tyrese Haliburton, Pacers' 2023-24 season
True enough, it's hard to argue with Tyrese Haliburton's sentiment. Sure they didn't win anything despite coming so close in both the NBA In-Season Tournament (in which they reached the finals) and Finals itself; however, these incredible runs show how formidable they can become with more experience and perhaps a little more retooling on the roster.
Indiana finished the season with the second-best offensive rating in the league at 120.5, which helped them register the highest point-per-game average of 123.3. Haliburton established himself as one of the best playmakers in the game today, becoming an efficient floor general with averages of 20.1 points and a league-leading 10.9 assists with just 2.3 turnovers per game.
Haliburton, who was selected to his second All-Star Game as well, capped the year with an All-NBA Third Team selection–a testament to his status as one of the top players in the game today.
In the playoffs, the Pacers surprised everyone after taking down both the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks in the first and second rounds, respectively. Some would say they got lucky facing the injury-riddled squads of Milwaukee and New York, but to be fair, it's not their fault they were able to stay healthy and their opponents weren't.
Indiana ended up losing to the Celtics in the East Finals via sweep, but it doesn't erase the fact that the Rick Carlisle-coached squad proved to everyone that they are one of the best up-and-coming teams in the league.
The Pacers now head to the offseason with some issues to address in order to improve. Their defense, which ranked in the bottom 10 (24th in defensive rating) is certainly the biggest hole they need to fix.
Another priority for the Pacers is the free agency of Pascal Siakam, their second star alongside Haliburton. Hopes are high that they can keep him, although as everyone knows, free agency can be tricky.
Hopefully, the Pacers will be able to take that next step that Haliburton promised come 2024-25.
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