Anyone else woke up this morning thinking that, by the end of the day, they would get to see the Oklahoma City Thunder squad lift their first NBA championship trophy since 1979, when they were called the Seattle Supersonics? If you did, then the Indiana Pacers, especially Tyrese Haliburton, did their part to not manifest that belief into reality. With the Pacers now having won Game 6, the Finals series goes to Game 7 for the first time since 2016. It will be the ultimate do-or-die game, with everyone needing to be at their best. So, Haliburton’s girlfriend, Jade Jones, is setting some priorities and looking to multitask during the upcoming days.

In the aftermath of Game 6, Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton caught up with SportsCenter, offering a quick update on his injury situation. Giving credit where it’s due, he said, “My family, you know, my girl Jade, is staying on me to keep doing the treatment. When the people aren’t there, you know, she’s like—we’re trying to… she wants to watch Love Island right now. She’s like, ‘Before we put it on, we gotta, you know, put something on the calf.’”

Now that’s commitment. Because sure, Haliburton’s going to heal eventually—but missing an episode of ‘Love Island’? Unforgivable. Thankfully, with Jade running point on recovery and reality TV, it’s clear the household knows how to multitask.

Tyrese Haliburton had sustained an injury during the 1st quarter of Game 5. It was later diagnosed as right calf tightness. To make matters worse, the injury was sustained ON THE SAME LEG on which, last week, he had ankle soreness. Haliburton grabbed at his lower right leg after the awkward fall and made everyone at the Paycom Center know that something wasn’t right with him. While he briefly left the matchup for treatment, he returned to the court soon and continued playing. Why didn’t he sit out this one game? Well, the star answered that question himself by saying, “I mean it’s the NBA Finals. It’s the finals — I’ve worked my whole life to be here. It was not really a thought of mine to not play here. If I can walk, then I want to play.”

Before Game 6, Shams Charania revealed that Haliburton’s injury is a “multi-week” one. Despite that, there were no set minute restrictions announced for the player. By continuing to play through, he is certainly putting a risk on his long-term health. Fortunately, the player is taking care of his health, revealing that he has been getting “round-the-clock treatment” from the medical staff. Plus, he also has Jade. Sure, he doesn’t have her undivided attention, but she is still there.

Haliburton was able to manage things in Game 6 by scoring 14 points, 1 rebound, and 5 assists. However, he wouldn’t have been able to secure the win had it not been for his teammates. All of whom went into Game 6 with a united thought.

Tyrese Haliburton revealed desire not to see OKC celebrate “championship on our home floor” motivated the Pacers

It’s never a good feeling when you lose an NBA championship after 7-8 months of hard effort that brought you to that stage. The loss is only made worse when you lose it on home-court. When you have to watch the other team lift the Larry O’Brien trophy, celebrate, and give speeches in a stadium filled with fans of your team. Therefore, with Game 6 taking place at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Tyrese Haliburton and co entered the game with some added motivation.

During a post-game discussion with ESPN, Tyrese Haliburton revealed, “Yeah, we just wanted to protect home-court. You know, we didn’t want to see these guys celebrate a championship on our home floor. Backs against the wall, and we just responded. So many different guys chip in. It was a whole team effort. Really proud of this group”. One cannot win a Finals game by a 17-point margin without realizing the need to deliver. Everyone from Obi Toppin, who scored 20 points, to Pascal Siakam, who recorded 13 rebounds in addition to 16 points, realized that need. They delivered and lived to fight another day. Things might turn out differently in Game 7. However, the Pacers squad can at least relish in the fact that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and co did not pop the champagne on their home floor.

“Yeah you don’t want to see that, man. I mean, I think everybody, you know, if you can defend home, your home floor, you want to do that to the best of your ability” said Haliburton. “I thought we did a great job of that, especially early of getting stops and and getting down running and playing Pacers basketball. Um, I feel like we did a great job in the margins, like you can look at how many shots we made, and our field goal percentage or whatever, but uh we didn’t turn the ball over a ton, you know. We rebounded well. Uh, those are the important things when you play a team like this”.

As the meme goes, the Pacers now have the chance to “do the funniest thing”. After all, Game 7, aka the final game of the tournament, will take place at the Paycom Center. Till then, one hopes that Tyrese Haliburton takes good care of his health, and that Jade Jones gets to enjoy her ‘Love Island’ episodes too.