Damian Lillard told reporters he had no problem with Tyrese Haliburton hitting his iconic "Dame Time" celebration against him. “I learned as a kid, when you dish it out, you’ve got to be willing to take it. For as many times as I’ve done it to people, I can’t be upset when somebody else does it, you know what I mean. I think that’s also a sign of respect and acknowledgment for knowing my history and knowing what I do. I didn’t mind it. It was what it was. I’ve also known that, you know, when you are having your moment, it’s important to be careful, to be humble in your moments because you just never know how the tables are going to turn or when they are going to turn. I respected it. We shook hands after the game. I wasn’t moved by it left or right," Lillard said.
Haliburton hit the celebration late in the Pacers' win over the Bucks in the semifinals of the In-Season Tournament. Haliburton, who is already generating plenty of MVP hype, was once again white-hot against Milwaukee. He had a team-high 25 points, also adding 15 assists to the stat sheet as the Pacers won by nine. They will face the Lakers in the tournament final on Saturday.
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Zion Williamson Admits To Bad Performance
However, it was a less successful night for Zion Williamson on the other side of the bracket. He put up just 13/2/3 in the Pelicans' 44-point blowout loss to the Lakers. Despite this, Williamson was the first to admit that he didn't play his best game. "I got to be better. I got to be more aggressive, finding my shot. And I got to do more things to get my team going. I think I was too laid-back tonight, and I just can't do that. And defensively I got to be better," Williamson said.
On the other side of the ball, LeBron James had one of his biggest games of the year. LeBron looked ageless as he put up 30/5/8 to power the Lakers into the title game against Indiana. However, that's now two games in a row that Williamson has struggled to break double digits. In the Pels' quarterfinal win over Sacramento, Williamson was held to just 10 points. "I have a problem where I literally just try to hunt the best shot possible every time, but my teammates, they expect more from me. I expect more from myself. But I got to just trust my game. I just got to be more aggressive. I think if I'm more aggressive that energy will definitely carry over," Williamson added.
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