Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Haliburton became friends with Team USA

Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Haliburton became fast friends as teammates last summer with Team USA, but that will be put aside when the two All-Star point guards face off in the Eastern Conference semifinals starting in Monday evening at the Garden.

“Great player. I didn’t really know him until – like, I knew him, we met a few times – but we didn’t really become friends until last summer,” Brunson said Saturday. “Great guy , a great family He became a friend of mine, obviously thanks to that (FIBA World Cup experience), and I have all the respect in the world for him and for the way he plays. He goes there, plays. in the right way and does what it needs to do.

Haliburton, who was named to the 2024 Olympic roster last month while Brunson was not, recorded 23 career assists against the Knicks on Dec. 30.

“The first call I got after I made the playoffs was a FaceTime with Jalen,” Haliburton told reporters Saturday in Indiana. “So we’re really good friends, but it’s competition and we’re really excited to play these guys.”

With Brunson, Hart and Villanova alumnus Mikal Bridges on last summer’s FIBA ​​team, Haliburton joked that he was “Donte’s backup,” referring to Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo , another former Wildcat.

“I kind of fit into that group,” Haliburton said. “It was fun, we have a group chat where we talk all the time, they’re good friends of mine. So I’m excited for all of Josh Hart’s shenanigans as a human being, and just excited to play against these guys.

With Haliburton at the helm, the Pacers deservedly played at the second-fastest pace — the number of possessions a team gets per 48 minutes — during the regular season, with the Knicks ranked 30th in the league.

“It depends on how you set the pace,” Tom Thibodeau said. “I think we were fifth in the standings (in the first round). I think we’re probably second in counterattack points. Then, when you look at the total number of shot attempts, we are still at the top.

“So it’s how you get there. I told you, you can make the stats say whatever you want, but the most important thing is the net rating. And so, that’s what we’re looking at. You want to be strong on offense and defense. I think we were fifth in offensive rating. We will be challenged again and our defense must be excellent.

The Knicks finished fifth in the NBA during the regular season in net scoring, which measures point differential per 100 possessions.

Thibodeau said there were no new injuries to report after the first round, except for Julius Randle (shoulder) and Bojan Bogdanovic (foot).