• Tyrese Haliburton did not provide it to the media after his poor performance in the third game on Friday. He answered the question Saturday
• Halliburton: "You had any questions about the game last night, you can ask me now. I was not brought last night
• Halliburton missed six shots, four of which were stopped

Indianapolis - Tyrese Haliburton met with the media on Saturday afternoon and lost to the Cavaliers 126-104 and his trembling performance in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Haliburton scored just four points on eight shots on Friday, scored five assists on three turnovers and scored -20 points in 30 minutes as a number of -20 pluses.

His talk about his shortcomings and the team and the relaxed ease of insights he provides makes it even weirder that he didn’t meet with the media on Friday night.

As a two-year All-Star point guard, Olympic gold medalist and largest contract player, worth nearly $245 million in the first year of a five-year contract, Halliburton is the face of the Pacers' franchise and has had enough and willingness to handle that responsibility even in the last three seasons. He was appointed to the Alltterview team of the Professional Basketball Writers Association as part of his second team Thursday.

At that time, he did not meet with the media after Friday. Formerly, Pacers Public Relations staff did not provide Halliburton.

Halliburton was asked Saturday why he wasn't available, and it was somewhat mysterious.

Haliburton said on Saturday at 8pm on Sunday, Game 4 of the series held at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, “It’s not always my decision if I’m not available. I can’t control it. I mean, you’re talking to me now. Last night you had any questions about the game and you can ask me now. I didn’t get any questions last night. I’m sure, I’m sure, I want to hear what I’m going to say right now, but I want to talk to you, so if you want to ask me, you’re going to be more popular.

"I won't escape any problems. I've been through a tougher time than last night. No matter what you're asking, I'll be there. If there were no comments around me last night, people could allow me to approach me and talk to me.

By then, Halliburton had been asked in detail what the Cavaliers did to stop him from moving on and what he did to change that. Haliburton was widely guarded by the Cavaliers' Max Strus and others in the man-to-man defense, and it was difficult to escape from their grasp in order to gain space.

“It’s just a fun challenge,” Halliburton said. “Just learn how to fight this. I have to do better, get myself involved in screening, create confusion, create my own movements. I think I have developed the habit of standing up now, which doesn’t help anyone, what they want. I have to do better, and can screen the ball better, and there’s no ball because they don’t help, and I think I can keep other people open.”

Halliburton and the Pacers generally struggled when the Cavaliers hired Zone 3-2 in a 3-2 zone, often using 6-11 forwards and NBA defenseman of the year Evan Mobley at the top of the keys, which made it difficult for the Pacers to make it difficult for the Pacers to get into their moves or put the ball into the paint.

"It's an interesting dynamic, right?" Halliburton said. "Many teams don't have 3-2 games and they don't play 7-foot players on the top. We have to figure out how to do it. We walked something, we saw something during the game, and it was just to slow us down. That's the speed of the area. That's the speed. We did a good attack for us.

Haliburton overall found that life was even harder after Mobley missed a second game in an ankle sprain. Mobley posted 18 points, nine rebounds and three steals, blocking three shots, two of which were Haliburton’s driving floater. Mobley's shots rose on both shots, and the obstacles seemed to stop Haliburton from trying to get to the lane. Of his six unshot scores, four were blocked.

"He's a good defender," Halliburton said of Mobley. "He did some plays. It's an honor for him. I think he's a good defender, but I think there's still a better field that doesn't spin around Evan Mobley."

Overall, it was a frustrating night for Halliburton, but his night ahead of the season was frustrating. Halliburton scored 4 points or less in five games of the season and had a brutal period in the first 15 games of the season when he shot 37.5% from the floor, 28.4% from the 3 season.

"The sun was rising this morning," Halliburton said. "It was unfortunate. There wasn't a good performance last night. But, this is the movie I'm going to see and there's more to make it clear for me. It's part of the whole process. Understanding that this is not something I want to see from myself, not something I'm sure anyone wants to see from me. But I'll appreciate the chin on my chin and I'll get better."

Pacers hope to do the same. They entered Friday night's game with a 2-0 series and scored two road wins and had a chance to get themselves on the path of the No. 1 seed in the East in Game 3. Friday's losses guaranteed a Game 5 in Cleveland, but the Pacers still have a series lead and home advantage.

"I told you after the first game and after the second game," Halliburton said. "In the second game, they punched and we just got through the storm. In the third game, they started the game in the first quarter and we just couldn't do it for the rest of the game. It was a team that didn't lose a ton. It was a great game. 2-1 at home, where we wish we were."