East Notes: Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton, Pistons, Magic

Pacers

Point guard Tyrese Haliburton recorded 25 points and 13 assists in Thursday’s win over the Pistons — his 15th game of the season of at least 25 and 10.

“Today is the best I’ve felt and best I’ve moved (in a while),” Haliburton told reporters, referring to his hamstring injury last month. “I think everybody who is really paying attention to how I look, I think that everybody can agree with that. That’s a relief. But I want to maintain that as time goes on.”

The All-Star even threw down a couple of dunks.

“Ty went through a tough five or six weeks with the injury, ” coach Rick Carlisle said. “To see him have two dunks and really feel good doing it is really good to see.”

• Carlisle had mixed feelings on the win. “I thought our first half was one of the best halves of the year,” he said, “and then our third quarter was one of our worst quarters. Fourth quarter, we got it back together and we were able to finish. … But we can’t back up the best defensive half of the year with one of the worst defensive quarters of the year.”

Pistons

Coach Monty Williams appears to be seeking moral victories as the rebuilding Pistons march toward the draft lottery.

“I thought today was one of those ‘first games out of the All-Star break,’” Williams said after the loss to the Pacers. “You’re hoping that you get the juice right away. We didn’t get it until the second half.”

• Guard Cade Cunningham led the Pistons’ rally, finishing with 30 points and eight assists. “I was proud of the way we fought back,” Williams said. “Our guys kept fighting and competing.”
• Detroit (8-47) fell to 4-24 on the road, having lost its fourth straight overall.

Magic

The Magic outplayed the Cavaliers pretty much from start to finish in picking up an impressive road win on Thursday.

“The real teams start to play now,” center Moritz Wagner told reporters. “As a young team that hasn’t really been there (in a playoff push), we need to embrace that and go there.”

• Orlando’s bench outscored Cleveland’s by a whopping 63-24 count. “Our bench unit was fantastic,” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “They came out ready to compete defensively early on, and there is a high level of trust they have with each other.”