Haliburton, Mathurin, Turner Delight Home Crowd with Skills Challenge Victory

Millions of viewers from across the globe got a dose of Hoosier Hysteria to kick off All-Star Saturday Night.

Following wins by Team Pacers in the relay and passing events to start the Kia Skills Challenge at Lucas Oil Stadium, Team All-Stars dominated the shooting competition to force an overtime half-court shooting contest.

After Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey drained a shot from the middle strip to stop the clock at 58.6 seconds, Pacers All-Star starting point guard Tyrese Haliburton answered with one from deep in 38 ticks to secure the victory for him and teammates Myles Turner and Bennedict Mathurin.

To Indiana fans’ delight, Haliburton imitated the iconic choke sign made by Pacers legend Reggie Miller following his contest-clinching basket.

“It felt good,” Haliburton said of the game-winner. “There was a lot of energy in the building. A lot of people wanted to see us succeed. It feels good to win.”

Haliburton credited the team's chemistry from the regular season with winning the Skills Challenge.

Throughout the competition, the three Pacers embraced each other and fed off the crowd's energy.

“The energy in the building was solid,” Turner said. “Obviously (Mathurin) kicked a lot of things off last night (winning Rising Stars MVP), holding things down over there. It was cool to be in that environment and come out with a win.”

The relay and passing challenges awarded 100 points each for the first two events, while the final event – shooting – was worth 200.

Team All-Stars was made up of Maxey, Toronto’s Scottie Barnes, and Atlanta’s Trae Young; and the third-place squad was Team Top Picks, composed of Orlando’s Paolo Banchero, Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, and San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama.

All the Skills Challenge events occurred on the state-of-the-art LED court installed in one of the corners of the Indianapolis Colts' home stadium.

In the first round, the teams competed in a timed relay where each player had to go through a course to combine for a time. The court in the stadium had live-player tracking and featured a 45-foot outlet pass, dribbling through pylons, a short shot in the lane, a corner 3-pointer over an automated defender, and a made basket on the opposite end.

Team All-Stars started off the event, and completed the course in 1:18 combined. After Team Top Picks failed to go through the course faster, Team Pacers completed the course 11 seconds faster than Team All-Stars, with Turner completing the course in 21.4 seconds, Mathurin making it through in 24.4, and Haliburton capping it off with a 21.5 run. Haliburton gave the crowd some extra juice at the end, lobbing the pass between his legs and off the backboard for a dunk to clinch the event.

In round two, a passing competition, the three players on each team participated together and had 30 seconds to complete passes to three moving targets from different spots on the floor.

After tying the first round of the passing event against Team All-Star, Team Pacers edged their opponents 92-90 in an overtime round, with Haliburton recording 32 points and Mathurin and Turner each recording 30.

Team All-Stars got some revenge in the shooting competition, where all three players on each team participated with one ball for 60 seconds. Different point values were displayed on the floor; each player had to attempt at least one shot, and players had to alternate shots.

The All-Stars balled out during the event, posting 33 points to the Pacers’ 16, forcing the half-court shot tiebreaker, where Haliburton came up in the clutch.

Mathurin’s All-Star weekend couldn’t have finished much better as he was the Panini Rising Stars MVP on Friday, and Turner finished 1-for-1 in events where he put a jersey on.

“I just don’t see the purpose of coming out here and not trying to win,” Mathurin said. “ I get to say I’m undefeated – I won Rising Stars twice in a row and the Skills Challenge. What's next? I’m really excited for us going back to the season.”

For Turner, the longest-tenured Pacer in his ninth season with the franchise, it was extra gratifying to be a part of the All-Star festivities, especially bringing home a win for the fans that have embraced him for nearly a decade.

"It's a really glorifying moment to bring home some hardware," Turner said. "And being part of the All-Star festivities, off the floor, making an impact, and just seeing more and more people welcomed to Indianapolis."

Haliburton had aspirations of adding a second trophy on Saturday night in the Starry 3-Point Contest, but it wasn’t to be.

Haliburton had an outstanding first round, scoring 26 points, making 20 of 25 shots around the arc. But he missed the two long-distance Starry shots (worth three points each) and also missed a final “moneyball” shot at the buzzer.

His score put him in a four-way tie with Atlanta’s Trae Young, Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns, and Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard, with only three shooters able to advance to the finals.

The four competitors faced off in a tiebreaker round, where they all had 30 seconds to get the highest score possible. Haliburton missed three of five shots on his opening rack and only managed a score of 12, eliminating him from contention.

Lillard defended his 3-point title, scoring 26 in the last round, while Young netted 24.

Postgame, Haliburton joked that he would keep competing in the 3-Point Contest until they told him no, and he would retire after that.

Haliburton's weekend didn't end with the 3-Point Contest, however. He will take the floor with the Eastern Conference All-Stars on Sunday night as the team's starting point guard.

The 2024 Skills Challenge title is the second time the Pacers franchise has claimed the honor. Domantas Sabonis won the event in 2021, the last year before it shifted to a team format.