A lingering back injury might be playing a role in the slow start for Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton.

Yahoo Sports' Kevin O'Connor reported Tuesday on his podcast that Haliburton isn't being dogged by his hamstring trouble from last year but had back spasms in the postseason that could be impacting him now.

"I've had some sources around the league tell me that they believe it's not his hamstring that's the cause of his struggles this year, it's his back," O'Connor said.

He added: "I think that would make sense with the trends and the way in which he's playing, the declining efficiency, because back issues are tough to deal with."

Haliburton is averaging 15.6 points per game after having posted a scoring average above 20 points the past two seasons. He's also shooting just 38.2 percent overall and 24.1 percent from beyond the arc, which are both on pace to be career lows.

O'Connor also pointed to the two-time All-Star's shot distribution as an indicator that something could be up. He's attempting nearly half as many shots inside three feet (8.8 percent) compared to his career average (15.7 percent), according to Basketball Reference.

The Pacers are getting strong contributions from Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner, Bennedict Mathurin and others, which helps to explain why they're 3-4 and don't have a worse record with Haliburton performing so badly.

Maybe the 6'5" playmaker is starting to find his shot and offensive aggressiveness again. In Monday's 134-127 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, he had 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting along with 12 assists.

But that's still just one game, so it's too soon to draw any firm conclusions. What is clear is that Indiana needs a lot more from its best player right now.