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INDIANAPOLIS — Tyrese Haliburton’s previously banned father was back in the building, and so, too, was the All-Star point guard’s electrifying all-around game.
John Haliburton was permitted by the Pacers to return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse following a first-round altercation with Giannis Antetokounmpo, and he got to see his son put on an absolute show with his first triple-double of these playoffs in Indiana’s 130-121 victory Tuesday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.
“Hell yeah, I’m glad Pops [is] in the building, man, makes it more sweet,” Haliburton said during a postgame interview on TNT. “Definitely had something to do with it.”
John Haliburton, who had confronted Antetokounmpo on the court after Pacers’ clinching Game 5 win in the first round against the Bucks on April 29, took in the game from a luxury suite after not attending any of the five games against Cleveland nor the first three games of this series.
Tyrese Haliburton called out his father’s behavior at the time, and John also issued an apology to both Antetokounmpo and to the Bucks.
“I’m gonna be honest with you guys here, my dad is just fine,” Tyrese Haliburton added in his postgame press conference. “He lives just fine. He sits and watches the games in a beautiful home or he finds his way to a sports bar with a bunch of Pacer fans.
“There’s obviously a lot of commentary around him … some was warranted and some went a little too far.
“But I don’t think there’s really any emotion to it. I just wanted to put on a good performance and I wanted to win the game. But obviously my dad being here is special.”
“I know we were saying ‘Free Pops,’ and ‘Pops is free,’ but he was not in jail. They’re in a beautiful home and sitting very pretty watching NBA basketball. He’s doing just fine.”
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The 25-year-old Haliburton put up 20 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds by halftime before finishing with a 32-15-12 stat line with zero turnovers and four steals in 38 minutes as the Pacers seized a 3-1 series lead with the series shifting to New York for Game 5 on Thursday.
He joined Oscar Robertson (twice) and Nikola Jokic as the only players in playoff history to record a triple-double with at least 30 points and 15 assists — and is the only player to reach those numbers without committing a turnover.
The younger Haliburton had invoked the Reggie Miller choke sign from 1994 following a game-tying shot at the end of regulation of Indy’s overtime win in Game 1 after the Knicks had flushed a 14-point lead with under three minutes to play.
But the two-time All-Star admitted after the Knicks came back from 20 points behind to take Game 3 that he was “kicking myself” for his part in a lackluster team showing with only 42 points in the second half.
“I was just trying to be aggressive and just trying to play my best. I felt like I let the team down in Game 3 and felt like I could have been so much better,” Haliburton said. “I felt like I responded the right way today.”
