Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton Using Surprising 'Extracurricular' to Inspire Playoff Run

Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton is utilizing an extracurricular for inspiration against the Bucks.

Apr 22, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA: Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) dribbles the ball while Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard (0) 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 have been flattening the Milwaukee Bucks during their ongoing 4-5 playoff series. Indiana has badly outplayed Milwaukee in pretty much every facet of the competition in the series' first two games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, and currently leads 2-0.

Both clubs have gotten pretty chippy with each other early. To wit, the Pacers and Bucks have logged six technical fouls and two flagrant 1 fouls so far.

As Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star notes, Haliburton is a longtime pro wrestling super-fan. He and his All-NBA New York Knicks point guard counterpart, Jalen Brunson, recently squared off during a "WWE SmackDown" event at Madison Square Garden.

Still, it appears that Haliburton knows what to prioritize — although he appreciates that all the trash talk thus far is in keeping with what he loves most about wrestling.

"All the extracurricular stuff is extracurricular," Haliburton said, per Dopirak. "But it's fun. It's fun. I'm not gonna sit here and lie to you. This is some fun (expletive) now."

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In his second playoffs ever, the 25-year-old is averaging a middling 15.5 points on .344/.176/.750 shooting splits, but also 12.0 assists (against 2.0 turnovers) and 6.0 rebounds.

The 6-foot-5 Fresno State product is reveling in the competitive nature of the series' matchups so far.

"I'm sure you're going to continue to see that through the course of the series," Haliburton said. "Everybody says in the league, rivalries aren't here anymore. Well, it's right here. This is an interesting series. We've played each other, it feels like a million times over the last two years. I feel like I've seen every different coverage that they could throw at us and I feel like those guys probably feel the same way about us.

Indiana is facing off against Milwaukee for their second first round playoff series encounter in as many seasons. Last year, the No. 6-seeded Pacers (47-35) managed to pull off a surprise upset of the No. 3-seeded Bucks (49-33).

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In fairness, they had the benefit of playing a Milwaukee squad missing its best player, nine-time All-Star power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, for all six games of the clash and its second-best player, nine-time All-Star point guard Damian Lillard, for two of them.

Haliburton hinted that the smack talk wasn't quite over yet.

"There's still a lot of series to go, a lot of games to play," Haliburton said. "I'm sure there will be more heated moments, more competitive moments."

More Indiana Pacers News:

Tyrese Haliburton Credits Pacers Fans For Making Bucks Uncomfortable

Pacers Have NBA History on Their Side After Game 1 Win

Pacers' Pascal Siakam Ignores Question on Damian Lillard Incident

Pacers Head Coach Rick Carlisle Talks Concern in Tyrese Haliburton Game 1 Struggles

For more news and notes on the Indiana Pacers, visit Indiana Pacers on SI.