The Philadelphia 76ers reportedly wanted Tyrese Haliburton in a potential Ben Simmons blockbuster trade, and the young Kings guard showed exactly why he's so coveted and why Sacramento has no desire to give him up.
With De'Aaron Fox out again Saturday against the 76ers, Haliburton went off for a career-high 38 points in the Kings' tough 103-101 loss at Wells Fargo Center. His previous career-high was 28 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 22, 2021.
Against the 76ers, Haliburton went 11-of-19 from the field, 5-of-9 from 3-point range and a staggering 11-of-12 from the free-throw line. He dished out seven assists, grabbed three rebounds and had three steals in 40 minutes of action.
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In the fourth quarter alone, Haliburton kept the Kings in the game, scoring 14 of his 38 as he made all five of his shots, including all four of his 3-pointers.
With other scoring options on the Kings roster, Haliburton has a tendency to defer, but getting him to shoot more is a point of emphasis for Sacramento.
"Ty puts in a lot of work," Kings center Damion Jones told reporters after the game. "He's a good player, great player. A lot of times, we want him to shoot more, so just keeping it in his head. He's trying to get everyone involved, but just letting him know his shot is there as well."
NBA
Coach Alvin Gentry was pleased with what he saw from Haliburton on Saturday.
"I think he's progressing everyday from the standpoint of getting better, learning more, doing the things that he needs to do to show improvements," Gentry told reporters. "I was happy with his game."
The Kings had a chance to tie or win the game on the final possession of regulation. Haliburton had the ball to start the play, but he passed out of a double team to Barnes, who pump-faked and didn't shoot a 3-pointer from the top of the arc. Haliburton got the ball back and drove by his defender with three seconds left. Instead of taking a potential game-tying floater in the lane, he passed back to Barnes, who missed a contested 3-pointer as time expired.
"More than anything, the look was to get the handoff and get downhill," Haliburton said after the game. "But I got the switch. They really sent two [defenders] to me and I threw it to HB. I think he feels like he should have shot that one. But it is what it is. I've passed some shots up all the time. It happens. He gave it back to me and I wish I could have that back because everyone was lifted, so I kind of had to make something out of it. I should have sent everybody down and just played 1-on-1 from there with the way my night was going.
"But when I look back, I still feel like I definitely could have shot that floater but I just saw Harrison open to the left of me, so I kicked it out and we live with the results. But yeah, I definitely wish I could get that end of the game [sequence] back. But these are the experiences that are going to help me down the stretch."
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Haliburton is growing and the Kings have high expectations for him, which is why they are reluctant to trade him. The best individual game of his career ended on a sour note, but this was a learning experience and the hope is that he will use the lessons learned in the loss to the 76ers in the next game that comes down to the wire.