LAS VEGAS, NV — The NBA's inaugural In-Season Tournament has been an incredible success heading into the Championship Game on Saturday evening, with Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers at the forefront of that success.

Through the first 20 games of the season, Haliburton has put up MVP-caliber numbers while leading the Pacers to a top five seed in the Eastern Conference. He's 14th in the league at 26.9 points points per game, first in assists by a wide margin at 12.1 per game, and doing all this while shooting 52.5 percent from the field, 44.1 percent from three, and 88.4 percent from the free throw line.

As if that wasn't impressive enough, Tyrese Haliburton has led his Pacers to the In-Season Tournament Championship game with a perfect 6-0 record, including must-win games against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics, and Milwaukee Bucks. Three of those four teams are ahead of them in the standings, and the Cavs trail them by percentage points.

If that wasn't enough to convince you how well they've been playing, the Pacers lead the league in effective field goal percentage while shooting the majority of their shots at the rim or from three. They're also the best mid-range shooting team, although they take the second fewest in mid-range shots in the league.

Contenders or Pretenders?

While most look at those numbers are continue to be impressed, skeptics, on the other hand, say it's still only been a quarter of the season and want to see how sustainable this is.

In theory, they're right. It has only been 20 out of 82 games for the Pacers, but the team that came in with only one national TV game all year has forced the league's hand by adding three more in the last week alone due to the In-Season Tournament.

The Pacers keep on winning, and Tyrese Haliburton understands there's still more work to be done.

“At the end of the day, it has only been 20 games or whatever,” Haliburton told ClutchPoints. “I'm understanding that, as well. It's not like I'm over here saying anything. I'm still doing the same thing. I'm getting in the gym, lifting, shooting before or after, whatever, getting body work, all those things that are needed to be sustainable throughout a season.”

In all likelihood, Haliburton and the Pacers' blistering play is not something that should be sustainable. With another 62 games still left on the schedule, a team as inexperienced as Indiana with a 23-year old star leading the way should experience growing pains.

But it wouldn't at all be a surprise to this writer if this was sustainable.

“I think just approaching it the right way [is important],” Tyrese Haliburton continued. “I think as a young group and as somebody who's never made the playoffs, I've always viewed the NBA as looking so far ahead. Like, if we can go 10-5 in our next 15, whatever. And I feel like that's a naïve way to look at it and it's a young view of it. I feel like you have to appreciate the process to get to where you're going. So it's approaching it one day at a time.”

This type of maturity and comprehension from the team's 23-year old star is not something you see every day. Then you add in his spectacular and efficient play, and we're watching a superstar in the making. Over an 82-game grind with thousands of miles traveled and different hotels stayed in, a proper mindset and attitude are almost half the battle in the NBA.

“For me right now, it's today is Friday. I just got done with practice. I've got to do this media stuff, then I've got to go get some body work done and go to dinner, get some rest, and be ready to go tomorrow. That's my approach to that game. I'm not worried about the road trip we've got coming up. I understanding that's coming.

“But I think that you've got to fall in love with the process of getting there and not worry about ultimately getting there. You've got to fall in love with the process, and all the greats do that. They take it one day at a time. That's just what I'm trying to do and understanding that, and ultimately by the time we get there, I think we'll be happy with our result if we just take it one day at a time.”

All the greats do that, with Tyrese Haliburton striving to be the next great of this generation.

The Pacers certainly have a good shot at winning the first-ever NBA Cup on Saturday. But even if they don't, their season doesn't suddenly end or turn into a disappointment. The 83rd game of the season will have a lot at stake, and then both teams will continue their respective regular seasons and work on developing into the championship teams they hope to one day become.

“Guys like Tyrese are going to be successful,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said ahead of the Championship game. “He'd have been successful if he'd have stayed in Sacramento. I believe that.”

In the last couple of weeks, comparisons to Steve Nash have grown louder and louder in the basketball community. From the efficiency and play-style to the demeanor and approach to the game, Tyrese Haliburton certainly appears to have some Steve Nash in him.

Rick Carlisle, who is in his 33rd year coaching, concurs with the Steve Nash comparisons.

“The comparisons to Nash I do think are accurate, largely because of the skill set, the vision, the scoring ability. But even more than that is Ty's connectivity with people. One of the things that was always so amazing to watch with Steve was whenever he'd approach a teammate on the court to talk to him, he'd always put his hand up and give him five. He would touch his teammates.

“Tyrese is very similar in the way he connects, eye contact, touching, all those things. There's a real understanding of his teammates because he's put the work into those relationships. Yeah, those to me are accurate comparisons. I think the two players are a bit different, but a lot of the qualities are the same.”

Saturday will continue to tell us a lot about Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers. And then we get 62 more games to see if Haliburton and this Pacers team is for real. I suspect they might be.