Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton Goes Off on Heated Rivalry With Bucks

The star point guard spoke about the rivalry that these two teams have built over the last couple of years.

Apr 22, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) shoots the ball while Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez (11) defends during game two of first round for the 2024 NBA Playoffs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The Indiana Pacers and the Milwaukee Bucks do not like each other. This is animosity that has been building for the last few years, dating back to the inaugural NBA Cup.

These two teams seem to have a dust-up in every game that they play at this point. They have one of the NBA's few true rivalries, which is good for the sport.

There have already been a few incidents in the first couple of games of the first round of the playoffs. Tyrese Haliburton, Damian Lillard, Bobby Portis, Bennedict Mathurin, and Gary Trent Jr. have all had some sort of incident.

Read more: Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton Talks Ongoing Feud With Damian Lillard

Haliburton was asked about this budding rivalry, and he did not hold his thoughts back on what has been brewing between the two teams.

"We don't have to sit here and act like it's any secret," Haliburton said. "We don't like them, they don't like us and that's just what it is. And I think they live for this, we live for this, so I could [not] care less. I'm out here just trying to help my team win a game."

Once playoff games start, the intensity of the games gets pumped up. The Pacers understand that, and Haliburton knows that the team has to keep its cool in these situations.

The last thing that anyone in Indiana wants is to have someone get thrown out of a game. Indiana needs to keep all of their players on the court that they can.

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The Pacers and the Bucks will continue to dislike each other even after this series is over. Right now, Indiana has a chance to eliminate the Bucks by playing two more games the same way that they have in the first two games.

Haliburton is solely focused on that. He has certainly talked his share of smack directed at the Bucks over the past couple of years. That will only get worse if Indiana wins Game 3.

In the first two games of this first-round series, Haliburton is averaging 15.5 points, 12 assists, and six rebounds per game.

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