{"id":542470,"date":"2026-01-17T09:15:29","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T09:15:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/542470\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T09:15:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T09:15:29","slug":"tyrese-haliburton-complements-tj-mcconnell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/542470\/","title":{"rendered":"Tyrese Haliburton complements TJ McConnell"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a season filled with growing pains for the <a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/nba\/indiana-pacers\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Indiana Pacers<\/a>, one moment stood out as genuinely special. Veteran guard <a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/nba\/players\/be9d0a5e\/tj-mcconnell\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">TJ McConnell<\/a> etched his name into NBA history during <a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/nba\/indiana-pacers\/schedule\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Indiana\u2019s 127-119 win<\/a> over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday. He became just the second player ever to record 3,000 career assists off the bench. The rarity of the accomplishment, which was previously achieved only by Lou Williams, prompted an immediate reaction from franchise star <a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/nba\/players\/a775093e\/tyrese-haliburton\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tyrese Haliburton<\/a>. The latter called the milestone \u2018crazy&#8217; and \u2018special&#8217; on social media. It highlighted McConnell\u2019s unlikely journey from undrafted prospect to elite reserve playmaker.<\/p>\n<p>McConnell reached the mark early. He delivered the historic assist in the first quarter as part of his usual high-energy floor leadership. Now in his 11th NBA season, the Arizona product has long built a reputation as one of the league\u2019s most dependable bench conductors. He combines relentless pace with sharp decision-making. Averaging 10.0 points and 4.9 assists in 2025\u201326, McConnell continues to be a stabilizing force for a roster searching for consistency.<\/p>\n<p>That consistency has been elusive for Indiana this season. The Pacers sit at 10-32, last in the Eastern Conference. Injuries have derailed momentum early and often. Haliburton\u2019s Achilles injury looms largest. It has forced Andrew Nembhard into an expanded role while Pascal Siakam carries the primary scoring burden. Wins have been scarce, but effort has not.<\/p>\n<p>For McConnell, the milestone adds another chapter to a career defined by perseverance. Despite missing time earlier in the year <a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/nba\/indiana-pacers\/pacers-news-rick-carlisle-addresses-tj-mcconnell-injury-concerns-after-loss-to-cavs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">with a hamstring injury<\/a>, he has remained a vocal leader and tone-setter. In a difficult season, his historic night, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Hali\/status\/2012384977783009778?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">and Haliburton\u2019s public salute<\/a>, served as a reminder that even amid losses, meaningful moments still matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a season filled with growing pains for the Indiana Pacers, one moment stood out as genuinely special.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542471,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3774],"tags":[7,113,126,3866,6,114,5643,278],"class_list":["post-542470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-indiana-pacers","tag-basketball","tag-indiana","tag-indiana-pacers","tag-indianapacers","tag-nba","tag-pacers","tag-tj-mcconnell","tag-tyrese-haliburton"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115909684378470485","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}