"Fever defense is no joke" - Tyrese Haliburton shouts out coach Stephanie White after Indiana upsets Aces in semifinal series opener

Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton credited coach Stephanie White and her staff after the Fever's upset win over the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday. The Fever dominated the second half to earn an 89-73 win and 1-0 series lead in the WNBA semifinals.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Haliburton gave a shout-out to White and assistant coach Briann January for the Fever's defense in Game 1. They did a wonderful job limiting four-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson to just 16 points on an abysmal 6-for-22 shooting.

"Fever defense is no joke, s/o Coach White and Bri January," Haliburton tweeted.

Tyrese Haliburton has been very supportive of the Indiana Fever since arriving to the Pacers in 2021. Haliburton has turned the franchise around, helping it reach the 2025 NBA Finals. They were one win away from their first-ever championship, but Haliburton tore his Achilles in the first quarter of Game 7.

The Pacers' star guard hyped up the Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd in Game 2 of the Fever's first-round series against the Atlanta Dream. It was the first WNBA playoff game in Indianapolis since 2016. They didn't disappoint as Indiana beat the Dream, which carried into Game 3 back in Atlanta.

Kelsey Mitchell scored 34 points on Sunday at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas to lift the Fever into victory. It was the best-scoring semifinal debut in WNBA history, surpassing Lauren Jackson's 31 points in 2004. Odyssey Sims added 17 points, while Natasha Howard dropped a double-double of 12 points and 11 boards.

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Tyrese Haliburton attended Wrestlepalooza in Indianapolis on Saturday

Tyrese Haliburton attended Wrestlepalooza in Indianapolis on Saturday. (Photo: IMAGN)

Amid his recovery from a torn Achilles, Tyrese Haliburton has been attending WWE events. He was in New Jersey last month for SummerSlam, watching Cody Rhodes beat John Cena in the main event to regain the Undisputed WWE Championship.

The company's next Premium Live Event was called Wrestlepalooza, and it was the first one under WWE's partnership with ESPN. The event was held at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, so Haliburton was present once again. He accompanied Pat McAfee backstage and was even shown talking to Rhodes before his match against Drew McIntyre.

Haliburton is a huge WWE fan, having appeared on RAW, SmackDown and NXT over the past year. He even got into it with Jalen Brunson in an episode of SmackDown last year at Madison Square Garden. He was with Logan Paul, while Brunson backed up LA Knight.

Edited by Juan Paolo David