The in-season tournament, which will make its way to Las Vegas on Thursday, was made for a team like the Pacers—a franchise desperate for any success after nine straight seasons ending without a playoff appearance or an exit in the first round. Think the IST isn’t meaningful? Watch the second half of the Pacers’ quarterfinals win over the Celtics on Monday, when an energized Indiana team erased a seven-point halftime deficit to score a double-digit win, 122–112, over a team that, weeks earlier, beat them by 51 points.
The IST, which will get a Finals-like rollout from the NBA this week, was made for players like Tyrese Haliburton, budding stars—nay, superstars—deserving of national attention. Haliburton is averaging 28 points and 13.4 assists in in-season tournament games, shooting 50.5% from the floor and 46.4% from three. Indiana’s roster, populated by just three players making north of $10 million, seems pretty motivated by the $500,000 per player prize that awaits the tourney winner.
I’ll have more to say on the IST later this week, but the Pacers, and Haliburton, are exactly what this tournament was designed for.
