What this In-Season Tournament run is doing for the Pacers nationally

LAS VEGAS (WISH) — The Indiana Pacers are one of four teams remaining with a chance to win the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament title.

The Pacers (11-8) play the Milwaukee Bucks (15-6) in one of the semifinal games on Thursday just after 5 p.m. EDT in Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.

Of course, there has been a lot of buzz surrounding the Pacers since their victory over the Celtics in the In-Season Tournament quarterfinal round earlier in the week.

“How do you not feel the buzz?,” Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “We’ve all got social media, stuff like that. Like we talked about all year, the better we play, the more love we’re going to get, and you’ve got to take that in stride, but understand that can be a poison to a sense at the same time. You’ve still got to do what you do and approach the game the same and just play Pacer basketball at the end of the day.”

Haliburton isn’t the only player on the team who has noticed the buzz. Fellow guard Bennedict Mathurin has also felt it.

Mathurin spoke with WISH-TV 8 Sports’ Andrew Chernoff on Wednesday in Las Vegas and told Chernoff what he hopes the country can take away from this Pacers’ run.

“Playing against Boston was the first national tv game,” Mathurin said. “I feel like it was great because at the end of the day they were able to see how Pacers are real. Pacers basketball is real. We’re only on the rise. We’re looking forward to have many more good games and many more statements ahead.”

The winner of the Pacers-Bucks game will advance to the In-Season Tournament championship game against either the New Orleans Pelicans or Los Angeles Lakers.

WISH-TV will have complete postgame coverage from the Pacers’ game against the Bucks. Andrew Chernoff will bring you live post-game reaction from Las Vegas at 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. on News 8.