Gilbert Arenas recently discussed the most significant contributing factor that has helped Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers make it all the way to the NBA Finals. After finishing the season with the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference, the Pacers stunned the basketball community by eliminating the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks.
Now, the Pacers are just two wins away from defeating the OKC Thunder and winning the 2025 NBA championship. Since Haliburton is the best-known player on the team and can be considered their leader or franchise cornerstone, many might assume that he is the biggest reason for the Pacers’ success.
The Pacers’ Bench Has Been Impactful in the Absence of Tyrese Haliburton and Other Starters
While adding Haliburton to their roster to become a starting point guard undoubtedly helped the Pacers get to the NBA Finals, Arenas shared his personal opinion on the true game changer that aided the Pacers’ deep postseason run.
“It’s the bench that’s changing the game for the Pacers. You know, T.J. coming in the game…It’s a different feel when he comes in a game because he’s a lot faster. He doesn’t have that bop-around game. He’s just going downhill. It kinda changes the tempo of the offense, and it puts the defense out of their spot. They got to collapse a little bit more than they do with Hali, and that leaves open shots for somebody like Ben….”
The Pacers’ bench is the biggest factor to them winning a championship 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/2vwmRfLjFv
— Gil’s Arena (@GilsArenaShow) June 15, 2025
The former NBA star continued, “If OKC wants to win this series, they have to really pay attention to that second unit. My scouting report will be more against T.J. and Ben than it is Siakam.”
Most teams that make it past the regular season and qualify for the playoffs tend to give their established starting lineup more time on the court. However, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle has not followed this trend and has utilized the Pacers’ bench through several crucial stretches of postseason games.
Although Haliburton has not had many great games in terms of scoring and stats, that has not changed the outcome of this postseason due to the competency of the bench players. Arenas noticed that stars like T.J. McConnell and Ben Sheppard have been instrumental to the Pacers’ victories, perhaps even more than starters like Haliburton and Pascal Siakam.
Arenas also pointed out that the bench guards had an incredible impact in the Pacers’ series against the Knicks and got stars like Jalen Brunson in foul trouble, all while Haliburton was likely recovering his stamina on the sidelines.
While the starters play more minutes and usually get the lion’s share of the credit, the bench is forced to be productive and impactful despite a heavy minutes restriction. Fans are left wondering if the Pacers’ bench will be able to rise to the occasion in Game 5 of the 2025 NBA Finals.
