Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton is winning on and off the court.
The 23-year-old All-Star stole the show in Thursday’s win against the Bucks in the semifinal game of the NBA In-Season Tournament, where his girlfriend, Jade Jones, was in the crowd at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Although Haliburton isn’t yet considered a big-name star, he certainly put himself in the conversation after recording 27 points,15 assists and zero turnovers to help Indiana beat the Milwaukee, 128-119, to advance to the championship game.
Jones was seen wearing a snakeskin bodysuit with Haliburton’s last name on the front, according to photos she shared on her Instagram page.
“Go pacers,” she wrote over a photo of the court, which she shared to her Instagram Story.
She also posted a behind-the-scenes snap of the “Inside the NBA” crew filming Thursday’s show.
The couple began dating while they were students at Iowa State, where Haliburton played college basketball and Jones was a cheerleader.
Haliburton and Jones celebrated four years together in April.
The point guard, who earned his first All-Star nod in February, is a bonafide breakout star of the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament.
After Haliburton hit a three-pointer — his third on the night — with less than a minute left in the game he appeared to mock Bucks guard Damian Lillard’s “Dame Time” celebration.
Haliburton then looked down at his wrist and yelled, “It’s our time!”
The small-market Pacers aren’t exactly the most flashy franchise in the league.
Indiana has just one scheduled national TV game on 2023-24 schedule, with five games on NBA TV.
The Pacers, though, will be featured three straight times on national TV with the quarterfinals, semis and title game of the In-Season Tournament being broadcast on TNT, ESPN and ABC.
The Pacers will face LeBron James’ Lakers in the final on Saturday night after L.A. blew out the New Orleans Pelicans 133-89 in the other semifinal game.
Indiana will enter the matchup as the underdog where star power is concerned.
The Lakers have 40 national TV games on their schedule this season — including 11 games on TNT, 11 games on ESPN, six games on ABC and 12 games on NBA TV.
“We’re playing the right way and we’re shocking the world right now, we’re going to continue to do that,” Haliburton said after Thursday’s win over the Bucks. “And as long as we play the right way, we know we’re going to be in every basketball game.”
Indiana’s bench also stepped up and outscored Milwaukee’s reserves.
“Yeah, our bench really was the difference in today’s game,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. “If you look at the plus-minus, it’s pretty obvious that those guys played a major role.”
The Pacers’ reserves were a combined plus-62, while the Bucks’ bench was minus-46.
“I know a lot of people don’t watch us play all the time, but we truly have one of the best benches in the NBA, if not the best bench in the NBA,” Haliburton said. “We’re a really deep team with a lot of different guys who can contribute. I’m sure we’ve got a lot of guys that people aren’t really familiar with, but they’ll be familiar all too soon, for sure.”
Source link
#Tyrese #Haliburtons #girlfriend #celebrates #InSeason #Tournament #rise