CLEVELAND, Ohio — Following his on-the-court confrontation with Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo after the Indiana Pacers eliminated them, Tyrese Haliburton’s father will not be attending games against the Cavaliers. John Haliburton will not be joining them for the near future, a team spokesperson told ESPN on Thursday.

The elder Haliburton apologized after Indiana’s 119-118 overtime win on Tuesday.

Antetokounmpo took exception to the incident, and Tyrese Haliburton agreed his father needed to tone back his actions around the court.

“I think he just got excited,” he said, “saw his son make a game-winner and came on the court. We had a conversation. He needs to just allow me to play basketball and stay over there, I’ll come to him to celebrate.”

Tipoff for Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals between the Cavaliers and Pacers is 6 p.m. Sunday. Here is what else Indiana and the national media are saying:

Long time, no see

The Cavs last played the Pacers to close the regular season. In fact, they matched up twice in that final week, but those games came with Cleveland having already clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Coach Kenny Atkinson sat his starters in two losses.

Both teams sat key players in the regular-season finale, and their other two meetings came within a three-day span. Even then, a mild groin strain took Haliburton out of the first game. Starting forward Aaron Nesmith had yet to return from an ankle injury.

Also, the Cavs had yet to acquire De’Andre Hunter for Caris LeVert and Georges Niang.

With that in mind, these teams are practically strangers, writes Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star.

“I would bet that this happened a lot in NBA history a lot where we really haven’t seen this team at full strength really all year,” Haliburton said in Dopirak’s story. “I missed, obviously, two of the games. We didn’t have Double-A. The film is weird.”

Dwyane Wade likes what Pacers did with Nembhard

Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade recently praised how Indiana’s coaching staff worked with breakout point guard Andrew Nembhard. A second-round pick in 2022 from Gonzaga, Nembhard is averaging 10.0 points and 5.0 assists this season. He’s been consistent for much of his three seasons in the league, making the most of his opportunity as a second-round selection.

However, Nembhard picked up his play in the playoffs. He’s averaging 15.0 points with 4.8 assists in 32.2 minutes per game.

“I got an opportunity to work the Olympics this summer and I got a chance to see Team Canada, and Nembhard was on Team Canada,” Wade said on “The Timeout” podcast, as pointed out by Andrei De Guzman of NBA Analysis. “What I saw was the coaching staff of Indiana out there.

“You could tell that the push for him to take the next step was something that was important for them as they watched him compete at that level at the Olympics to be on that stage next to Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander),” Wade added. “To watch them there watching him, you could tell they want this kid to have a really big year for us, because if he goes to another level, now it opens up everything they are trying to do.”

McConnell can’t believe he’s with Pacers

Nembhard’s backup, 33-year-old veteran T.J. McConnell, called himself a “prototypical Indiana basketball player” on a recent edition of “The Young Man and the 3 podcast.”

McConnell is in his sixth season with the Pacers and he understands how he doesn’t necessarily fit in the NBA, writes Scott Horner of the Indianapolis Star.

“I genuinely believe that playing hard is a skill,” McConnell said, noting he created his identity as a constant full-court defender. “If you make live hell for the other team … it gives you a chance to make a roster.”