INDIANAPOLIS — Clippers guard John Wall sat in the corner of the locker room, glued to his phone. The Clippers had just lost in Philadelphia to begin a five-game trip and players were stewing over the breakdowns.
But Wall, who watches as much basketball as anyone in the NBA, was glued to his phone looking at another game. To Marcus Morris Sr., Kawhi Leonard and a few others within earshot, he repeated the stat line that caught his eye: 43 points and seven assists, with 10 3-pointers. It belonged to Indiana point guard Tyrese Haliburton. Those sounded like All-Star numbers to Wall.
Eight days later, Haliburton had six points through three quarters against the Clippers before torching them for a game-changing 18 in the fourth quarter, including 12 consecutive points in one stretch to seal Indiana's 131-130 victory.
