"I'm not going to ridicule him" - Tyrese Haliburton addresses Pacers' decision to ban his father from home games
Following a heated confrontation with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Tyrese Haliburton's father won't attend any more of Indiana's playoff games this season. In addition to skipping home games, John Haliburton will be absent from the road games as the team looks to eliminate the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round.
On Friday, ahead of Game 1 of the Pacers-Cavaliers series on Sunday, Haliburton was asked about the situation while speaking with members of the press.
"This is the last time I'll address this at all," Haliburton said. "I understand the decision made by our organization and the league. I've spoken on it many times that my father was in the wrong, but at the end of the day, it's my dad. I'm not going to ridicule him by any means. ...
"I love him dearly. He's going to sit at home and watch the game and he'll be just fine. ... We understand the decision. We understand the repercussions of it. Yeah, it is what it is, but that's my dad."
Indiana beat reporter Tony East, who asked Haliburton about the situation, shared a video of the exchange on X (formerly Twitter).
Looking at Tyrese Haliburton and Indiana Pacers' second-round series against Cleveland Cavaliers
After closing out their first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks, Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers are shifting their focus to their second-round series with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Throughout the regular season, the two Eastern Conference teams faced off four times, with Haliburton and the Pacers picking up wins in three games.
After going 1-1 in their first two meetings early in the season, Indiana picked up back-to-back wins against the Cavs on April 10 and April 13, extending their regular-season record to 3-1 against the best team in the East.
Ahead of Game 1 on Sunday, Cleveland is sitting as a pretty comfortable betting favorite to win both Game 1 and the series as a whole.
On FanDuel, the Cavs are -550 favorites to win the series, while Indiana is a +410 underdog. Meanwhile, Cleveland is a -330 favorite to win Game 1 at home, while Indiana is a +265 underdog.
Following Game 1, Haliburton and the Pacers will be back in action again on Tuesday for Game 2, before the series shifts to Indiana for games three and four.