We all know the story. The Milwaukee Bucks proved no match to the Indiana Pacers in the regular season. The fact that Indiana won four out of their five meetings during the year is a clear testament to this fact no matter which way you look at it.
Pacers superstar Tyrese Haliburton is having none of this, though. At this point, the All-Star point guard has put the regular-season narrative to bed as Indiana faces a very dangerous Bucks threat in the Playoffs.
Milwaukee Bucks News: Tyrese Haliburton Knows Regular Season Does Not Matter
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s Game 1 showdown in Milwaukee, Haliburton was quick to play down Indiana’s considerable advantage over their foes. According to the 24-year-old, you can pretty much throw all that out the window now that the postseason is upon us:
“Honestly, those five games don’t matter,” Haliburton said, via Dustin Dopirak of Journal & Courier. “The 82 that we played this year don’t really matter at this point. It’s really a fresh start.”
Relishing the Opportunity
Haliburton isn’t taking anything for granted. This will be his first-ever postseason appearance in his young career, and he’s making sure to take everything in stride:
“I’m excited and really thankful to be here,” Haliburton said. “Usually at this point, I’m in my exit meetings and talking to you guys in a press conference to get ready for my vacation. I’m just excited to be playing basketball. My plan is to keep playing for the next couple of months. That’s the great part about being in this position and I’m very excited about it.”
That plan will obviously rely completely on the Pacers taking out the Bucks in the first round.
Haliburton went on to say that the Pacers will not be settling for a participation medal. He is well aware of the fact that it will be a gargantuan task to defeat the Bucks in a seven-game series — with or without Giannis Antetokounmpo. At this point, they’re just taking it a day at a time:
“We’re not just satisfied being here,” Haliburton said. “We want to take a lot more than that. But all of that stuff is not for us to be concerned about, because the minute you start worrying about what’s in front, things get bad in the present. And looking back in the past and the success we had against them in the year, things will get bad if we really focus on that. Obviously, we don’t play until Sunday, but we had a good practice today and we’ll have a good practice tomorrow. Once you fall in love with that process and the preparation behind it, the results will come.”
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