'We’re going to hold it down': Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner look forward to All-Star Saturday night
A trio of Pacers will compete in the skills challenge, and then Tyrese Haliburton hopes to put forth a consistent shooting effort in the 3-point contest at Lucas Oil Stadium.
When NBA All-Star Saturday night gets underway at Lucas Oil Stadium, it’ll be a trio of Pacers that will get it started.
Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin and Myles Turner are teaming up to form one of three teams in the Skills Challenge. It’s the first of four events — which also includes the 3-point contest, Steph versus Sabrina, and the slam dunk contest.
“Going into the skills contest, I have no idea what that entails,” Haliburton said on Saturday after All-Star practice at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. “Looking forward to finding that out. I do think what we have over people is chemistry because we're all together all the time.”
Mathurin wasn’t sure you could even practice for it — by dribbling around cones, he wondered. Like Rising Stars on Friday, he plans to win.
“I told the guys we got to go full speed,” he said after being named Rising Stars MVP. “I’m trying to win that thing, especially in Indy.”
Despite the uncertainty from players who have their routine down to the minute, they’re looking forward to the challenge.
“All three of us knew we wanted to do it, but we’ve all been ripping and running this weekend as a whole,” Turner said. “We’ll get some practice time a little bit later today and figure it out from there as we go.
“It’s home-cooking. It should be right here. We’re going to hold it down.”
Haliburton has a full night, which is on-brand for his weekend as the unofficial ambassador for the city. He’s also competing in the 3-point contest against Malik Beasley, Jalen Brunson, Damian Lillard, Lauri Markkanen, Donovan Mitchel, Karl-Anthony Towns and Trae Young.
Haliburton’s intention is “just don’t choke” after he had an outstanding round 1 last year in Salt Lake City, but then cooled off. Afterward, he immediately pledged to enter it again this year in Indy.
“I had a legendary first round, and then I think I got iced a little bit,” he said. “That might be the reason. But I was terrible the second round. Just some consistency this year, and hopefully I can pull off the W.”
I’m not sure anybody has had a busier schedule than Haliburton this weekend. He’s being transported in a sprinter van from place to place throughout the day. He’s all-in and been receptive to countless podcast interviews, partnership activation and appearances.
“It's been a zoo,” he acknowledged. “It's been a lot, but it's been a lot of fun. I've been told I'm kind of like the prom king of the weekend, so just doing whatever I'm asked to do.”