Just as the Indiana Pacers were getting into the swing of things for the new season, they faced a debacle against the New York Knicks. Star guard Tyrese Haliburton’s lack of points in the match played a big role in their loss.

His performance came after a shaky start in which he scored just 15 points in the season-opening win. Haliburton showed a lot of promise last year, leading the Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals, but it was a rough start to the year.

However, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle is not very interested in his star guard’s struggles.

“I thought Tyrese did a very good job of keeping his emotions in check and continuing to play,” Carlisle said. “Look, nights like this happen to the best players in the world. “We all need to take our medicine on this issue.”

Carlisle won’t throw their star under the bus but his failure to pick up a single point is a bit worrying. Haliburton has emerged as one of the best young players in the NBA, so it’s strange that he’s heading into a game like this.

However, it wasn’t just Haliburton that had difficulties in this match. The Pacers’ entire starting lineup outscored the Knicks’ starters, 102-31.

Carlisle was disappointed with the lack of effort throughout the game rather than with any single performance. He knows how good this team can be, so it was strange to see them fail to open the year.

“The bad things at one end fed the bad things at the other end,” he said.

The Pacers made a quick comeback and will face the Philadelphia 76ers tomorrow. They will have to put in much more effort in this match if they want to come away with a victory.

Their schedule doesn’t get any easier with games against the Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics, New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks.

“This is a tough program we’re starting with,” Carlisle said. “The game in Detroit was terrible. This game obviously speaks for itself. Philly…they’re coming in desperate. We’ve got to come in desperate, too. We’ve got to fight and claw for everything at this point in the season.”

If the Pacers want to repeat last season’s success, it will be helpful to get off to a good start. It won’t be easy, but this Indiana team faced adversity and came out the other side.