NBA Series Showdown: Who Comes Up Big Between SGA & Haliburton?

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00:00But, J.Y., will both of the superstars step up throughout the entirety of this series for both the Thunder and the Pacers?

00:08If you're asking me which one is more likely to step up, I'm going to go with the one that's the MVP and should lead his team to a championship.

00:16I just, you look at, you know, people have complained about so much, particularly of Jalen Brunson, about how he generates fouls.

00:23Here comes Jalen Brunson on steroids, the free-throw merchant who just gets people into jail, you blow on them, and there's a foul call.

00:33We'll be interested to see how the NBA and referees handle him.

00:36But the fact that 6'6", 215 pounds, his ability to create off-the-bounds, score at all three levels, and be able to not be knocked off the ball,

00:44I just look at the height advantage they have and don't see anyone in Indiana that can check him in regards to guarding him one-on-one.

00:52Now, that opens up an interesting take is, does Rick Carlisle send a double team?

00:57What does he do?

00:58Because they've got to get the ball out of his hands.

01:00The problem is you've got another guy like Jalen Williams that can create his own shot himself.

01:04The concern of Edward Halliburton is not his game, okay?

01:08My concern is you're going to get one, maybe two stinkers out of him because he does it every series,

01:16and he really, Ben, can't afford to give you one stinker if they're going to have a shot.

01:22Because if that one game's a stinker, that's probably a 30, 40-point win.

01:25So Tyrese Halliburton's got to bring it, Ben, let's be honest.

01:28From game one, being extremely aggressive.

01:31My concern is, like I said last segment, the number of defenders that Mark Dagenoel can throw at Halliburton

01:38is going to be an issue.

01:40And it's also why people talk about how great Oklahoma City is offensively.

01:44They're metric-wise the best defensive team, I do believe, in the playoffs and during the regular season.

01:50So that bodes a major problem to Halliburton.

01:52So I trust SGA more than Halliburton, but that's no disrespect to Tyrese.