Tyrese Haliburton reflects on Indy’s All-Star Weekend

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — It was a record-breaking All-Star Game in Indianapolis on Sunday.

For the first time in 73 years, the winning team scored over 200 points with Team East beating Team West 211-186. That massive number came after the Eastern Conference stars broke the record for most made threes — 42, to be exact.

Ten of those were from the hometown hero, Tyrese Haliburton.

Haliburton’s 32 points off just 15 shot attempts was the most impressive stat line, but not even that earned him the All-Star Game MVP. Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard beat out Haliburton with a 7-5 vote after scoring 39 points — 11 threes.

That didn’t matter to Haliburton. He was just happy to be here.

“It’s really special. I don’t take this life for granted. Yeah, it’s a dream come true for me,” Haliburton said.

Haliburton electrified the crowd in the first quarter, making five straight threes — the last coming from the logo.

“I was just going to keep shooting until I missed,” Haliburton said. “Having fun playing basketball. I didn’t know how many minutes I was going to play, didn’t know how my leg would feel. I felt good today, even after the one-leg dunk. So that’s positive for me. Obviously it wasn’t high intensity at all. It feels good that I felt good, and hopefully, I can continue that moving forward.”

Haliburton was clearly the fan favorite in the sold-out Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

“I think there’s a lot of energy in the building, a lot of energy from Pacers fans, a lot for us to be excited about,” Haliburton said. “You saw what Ben (Mathurin) started off with Rising Stars MVP. Won the Skills Challenge yesterday. There’s been a lot of love and excitement through not only our city but our organization as well. We just want to carry that momentum through the second half of the season and make a playoff push.”

Haliburton doesn’t get much rest before that playoff push continues — just three days before the Pacers are back in this building hosting the Pistons on Thursday.