Kevin Durant reveals what makes Tyrese Haliburton so dangerous in the Pacers’ offense: “He kicking it ahead no matter who it is” originally appeared on Basketball Network.
Before his Achilles snapped during this year’s NBA Finals, Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton had his coming-out party in the playoffs.
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You know that’s the case when the 25-year-old was one of the topics in the recent “Mind the Game” podcast episode featuring Kevin Durant, who gushed about the two-time All-Star’s ability to read the floor and control the pace — two skills that, according to KD, make Hali such a terrific point guard.
“What I love about Indy too, and what I think is an underrated factor, like Tyrese kicks the ball ahead,” the new Rockets forward pointed out. “He doesn’t dribble cross halfcourt every time … The center hand him the ball, he kicking it ahead no matter who it is.”
What makes Hali unique
As KD noted, Haliburton’s ability and penchant for kicking the ball ahead are underrated, but they offer many advantages. For one, they speed up the offense and pace, which played a big part in why the Pacers‘Â offense ranked third in the league last season.
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Second, it catches the defense off guard, and it can be tricky for the opposing team to contain such a high-powered offense unless they have the appropriate defenders.
Durant believes that Haliburton is smart enough to take advantage of the Pacers’ weapons, and he does it calculatedly and efficiently—a unique skill that not many point guards possess.
“There’s way more pressure when he’s not kicking that ball ahead,” Durant continued. “So when you kicking it ahead to Siakam, and he coming downhill on whoever. You kicking it to Obi Toppin downhill, now he dribble-handoff to Aaron Nesmith out the corner. So that kick ahead for them is a big reason why I feel like they’ve been so connected as a group,” added Durant.
Hali averaged 9.2 assists per game last season, good for third place in the league. He’s one of the best creators in the game and on top of that, he’s just as talented as a scorer. Before snapping his injury, the Pacers guard averaged 17.3 points, 8.6 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game on 34% three-point shooting and 46.3% from the field.
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Haliburton doesn’t waste any possessions
Besides his ability to lead a high-powered and dynamic offense, KD also singled out the way Hali makes the most out of every possession in a 48-minute game.
This means the guard’s expertise in not turning the ball over (he averaged just 1.6 turnovers a game during the regular season), making sure he and his teammates don’t settle for bad shots, especially when the shot clock expires, and instead encourages ball movement, which makes the Pacers’ offense elite.
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In retrospect, this was a brief yet incredible summary by Durant that perfectly encapsulated what makes Hali a unique player in today’s game. Unfortunately, the point guard will take more than a year to see the floor again. Still, at the very least, Haliburton has shown what he’s shown, his potential that hasn’t yet reached its ceiling.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 9, 2025, where it first appeared.