PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers were unable to slow down Tyrese Haliburton for two games in a row. Although the Sixers were able to outscore the Indiana Pacers once, Haliburton and his up-tempo squad proved to be too good to defeat in the second game of their mini-series.

Haliburton was totally dominant with the way he shot and passed the air out of the ball against the Sixers. Across the two games, he scored 58 points and tallied 32 assists. He added four steals, shot 20-32 from the field and didn’t commit a single turnover. The Sixers knew they were in for a challenge against him but still couldn’t slow him down much, even with having a second game immediately after the first to make adjustments.

“He's good. I mean, maybe it's the name,” Tyrese Maxey quipped. “Nah, but he's good, man. He's great, honestly, man. What he does, what he does for that team, the way he keeps the energy up, the way he fights as far as getting the ball and getting his teammates the ball. And his teammates knocked out some shots for him as well today. So, they were solid.”

Nick Nurse had assigned Nicolas Batum to guard Haliburton in the first game but with Batum out due to personal reasons the following matchup, Robert Covington got the assignment. The Sixers' switch-happy scheme meant that just about everyone got a turn on him. De'Anthony Melton and Patrick Beverley saw a lot of him as the game went on, with the former pointing out that Indiana running so much made the matchups random at times.

“I thought we were doing okay on some of the things but we just let him get going early. He had five threes in the first half where we just either miscommunicated a coverage or we went under when we were supposed to be going over and some of those things where we just kinda let him have a couple clean looks early. Then I think he was kind of off to the races.”

Nurse added that Beverley did a good job of “turning his water off a little bit” in the later parts of the game but that Haliburton came alive down the stretch to help the Pacers pull away. His ability to shoot off the dribble amplified his ability to make plays for others. Playing balanced against Indiana's whole lineup means letting Haliburton get more favorable coverage. Cheat up more on him and watch as he whips a pass to the open man. Indiana's players know very well how to get open off the ball, too.

The Pacers' ridiculous tempo and synchronization on offense made sure that the Sixers were pressed on every defensive possession.

“I mean, they're tough to guard because they just run full speed,” Joel Embiid said. “I think one of the main things about them is just that obviously they're young, but they're so unpredictable. You don't know what they do because they're just always running a hundred miles per hour. But that's what happens when you're young and when you got a team like that.

“But he was excellent,” Embiid continued. “He made a lot of tough shots, whether those stepbacks and underhand running hooks. Those were tough but he's an amazing player and he's been doing a great job.”

Barring another matchup in the Knockout Round of the In-Season Tournament, the Sixers will see the Pacers just one more time this season. On January 25 in Indiana, Philly will get another shot to outgun the up-and-coming Pacers.