“Booked The Flight Before Game 4”: Dwight Howard Pokes Fun At Tyrese Haliburton For Supposedly Already Being In Cancun

On Monday, the Indiana Pacers’ impressive playoff run ended following their Game 4 loss to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. Tyrese Haliburton, who was forced to miss Games 3 and 4 due to a hamstring injury, could do nothing but support his team from the sidelines and hope they could extend the series. However, Dwight Howard believes he was mentally on vacation before the Game 4 loss.

The former Los Angeles Lakers star posted a clip of the Pacers guard dancing with his girlfriend Jade Jones poolside, poking fun at the fact that he was in Cancun one day after Indiana’s season-ending defeat. He captioned it, “Booked the flight before Game 4.”

While the clip is hilarious, its claim that Haliburton was in Cancun a day after the Game 4 defeat is false. The Pacers guard and his teammates Bennedict Mathurin, and Andrew Nembhard were among the attendees at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse watching Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever in action against the Los Angeles Sparks.

Howard likely knew Haliburton wasn’t in Cancun but still posted the clip as a joke. However, he also knew that the Pacers wouldn’t upstage the Celtics because playing against them is no fun.

Dwight Howard demands respect for the Celtics

The Celtics’ playoff run has been labeled ‘lucky’ because of the injuries their opponents have had to deal with. However, Dwight Howard looks at the bigger picture and believes Boston has done enough throughout the season to deserve their spot in the Finals. Following their Game 1 win over the Pacers, the former Lakers star praised the Celtics, saying,

“The Celtics got a chance to win [the NBA title] too. They’ve got the number 1 defense, they’ve been playing great at home. They haven’t lost that many games at home [this season].”

Howard believes fans and analysts are downplaying the Celtics due to their opponents’ dismal injury luck in the playoffs and shot a warning to the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Dallas Mavericks on X, formerly Twitter,

The Celtics have come through on Howard’s expectations so far and they now patiently wait to find out who they’ll face in the NBA Finals. Boston will start the series as the favorite and have the chance to prove they were the best team in the league this season.