Tyrese Haliburton is the engine that drives Indiana.
And right now it’s misfiring.
The All-Star came into the Eastern Conference semifinals nursing a bad back and mired in an extended shooting slump.
And he hit bottom in Monday’s Game 1 loss to the Knicks, dragging the Pacers down with him.
Indiana lost 121-117 to the Knicks before a sellout crowd of 19,812 at the Garden.
And Haliburton has regressed from Superman earlier in the season to the Invisible Man on Monday night.
The point guard had just six points — less than a third his season average — and finished a minus-12.
He had eight assists, four steals, three turnovers and one long shooting funk.
“I mean, I think he’s been a focal point for everyone’s defensive game plan all year,” said T.J. McConnell. “I don’t think [anybody lays off him]. There hasn’t been a game where I’ve seen him against a team and drop coverage.
“He gets trapped every time he comes off the pick-and-roll. And the best thing about Tyrese is he won’t force a bad shot. He gets others involved and we trust him wholeheartedly with the ball in his hands every single time.”
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Part of it was a midseason hamstring injury that cost him to miss 10 of 11 games back in January.
Before that he averaged 23.6 points and 12.6 assists on .496 shooting and .400 from deep.
But since coming back, he hasn’t been quite the same.
From Haliburton’s Jan. 30 return to the end of the regular season, he averaged 16.8 points and 9.3 assists on .455 and .324.
And in Indiana’s first-round series against the Bucks, his shooting woes only got deeper, his shooting averages falling to .435 and just .296.
He was listed as questionable with a bad back for the final few games of that series, and for Monday’s second-round Game 1 in the Garden.
He started every single one of those contests, but the Pacers need a better version of him to win.
