Jalen Brunson’s 44-point show out bizarrely criticized as achievement against ‘pathetic defense’ by Colin Cowherd

I know Brunson is great, but he's scoring 44 against a pathetic defense. Colin Cowherd said on The Herd

The host went off on the Eastern Conference teams and claimed that the Pacers are the worst defensive team in the playoffs. He compared the defense in the East matchups to the West matchups of the playoffs. According to Cowherd, considering Brunson’s talent, the performance was even easier as he was left wide open in the game. The host called the outing to be similar to practice sessions.

Taking away from Brunson’s performance to criticize the Pacers’ defense did not sit well with fans. Brunson played for 43 minutes and made more than 50% of his shots in the game. Also, his special 40-point outing got him a unique record to his name.

Draymond Green called out the Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton’s defense

Cowherd was not the only critic of the Pacers’ defense. Considering the team was lacking offensively in game 5, many believed that the Pacers should have stepped up defensively. Especially the team’s star Tyrese Haliburton.

Haliburton was only able to score 13 points in the loss, but his defensive performance was one of the main issues for the former defensive player of the year. The Golden State Warriors Draymond Green called out the Pacers guard during Inside the NBA on TNT, claiming that Haliburton’s performance affects the team’s mentality.

When you come out and hedge on a screen and you just slap behind a guy and the guy turns the corner, that is setting the tone for the team, because you're the guy…We're asking you to come out and give an honest effort and compete. Draymond Green said

The Pacers and Haliburton certainly need to step up in order to stay in the competition. The team has to perform better both offensively and defensively to stay in the competition. The Pacers cannot afford to lose any games, as the Knicks are only one win away from winning the series.