Local News
Fans pack Gainbridge Fieldhouse for NBA In-Season Tournament Championship
By 
Part-time reporter
Indianapolis, Indiana – Indianapolis is experiencing a level of Indiana Pacers fever that hasn’t been seen in years. Thousands of supporters flocked to Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday to support a 1,800-mile distant squad.
”Your building is full tonight, and you’re playing all the way out in Las Vegas,” said Eddie White, the host of Pacers Overtime.
Fans crowded the Gainbridge Fieldhouse entry pavilion ninety minutes before the Pacers and Lakers NBA In-Season Tournament Championship Game got underway.
”Are you kidding me? What is this like? This is like the old days,” White said.
White compared the atmosphere to that of the Pacers’ first NBA postseason series victory against the Orlando Magic thirty years earlier.
”That saying in 49 states, it’s just basketball, but this is Indiana,” White said. “This is Indiana, and this is the Pacers.”
According to White, the Pacers have made the most of the first NBA In-Season Tournament.
”I think there are some people who still don’t know what it is, but they don’t care because we’re winning,” said White.
The Pacers’ exposure both domestically and abroad is greatly increased by their success, which has led to more nationally televised games and discussion on national sports talk shows.
”If we maintain it, you can see kids from coast to coast wearing Haliburton jerseys,” White said.
Tyrese Haliburton, a point guard, has been the driving force behind the Pacers’ return to prominence.
”We got a superstar,” one fan said as he headed into Gainbridge Saturday night.
”To have a star like Tyrese come on the team, and what he’s doing is just amazing,” another longtime Pacers fan said.
Even supporters of Haliburton’s play are experiencing flashbacks.
“With Haliburton, oh my gosh,” one fan said. “He’s another Reggie, he’s another Reggie and he’s gonna be MVP.”
The Pacers’ management want to capitalize on the excitement generated by the in-season competition by hosting NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis in ten weeks.
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