The Indiana Pacers’ preseason opener in Ames had the usual homecoming buzz for Tyrese Haliburton, but the loudest reaction of the night came for somebody else.
Indiana beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 123-112 on Wednesday night at Hilton Coliseum, and while Haliburton was welcomed warmly back to his alma mater, rookie guard Braden Smith got the opposite treatment. Every time Smith touched the ball, Iowa State fans let him hear it.
That reaction left Pacers coach Rick Carlisle searching for an explanation after the game.
"Hats off to the Iowa State students. Unbelievable showing," Carlisle said.
"I'm not sure why there was very high-level heckling. We were trying to figure it out the whole game."
Carlisle said he was even more confused because Iowa State had beaten Purdue by 30 points last season, a game he attended in person.
"For the record, I was at the game at Purdue last year when Iowa State kicked Purdue's ass," Carlisle said. "I was there.
I stayed for the whole thing. So, I'm trying to figure out why that would translate to that kind of heckling."
One possible answer surfaced during a timeout, when Carlisle said someone showed him a social media post suggesting the boos may have been tied to Iowa State guard Tamin Lipsey and Smith potentially taking Lipsey’s spot on the Pacers roster.
Haliburton, meanwhile, was just as baffled by the crowd’s focus on his teammate.
"I'm still a little dumbfounded," Haliburton said. For lack of a better term, we beat the sh*t out of Purdue last year, so it ain't like he did anything crazy to us last year. I don't understand."
Still, Haliburton liked what he saw from Smith in the Pacers rookie’s first NBA preseason game. He said the guard handled the setting well, even with the crowd turning the night into a college-road atmosphere.
"That's tough to play your first NBA game in a college road environment. How weird is that?
But I thought he did a great job," Haliburton said. "He was tired as the game went on.
He played a lot of minutes in that second half, but I thought he settled into the game really well."
Haliburton also singled out Smith’s passing and drew a comparison to T.J. McConnell.
"Braden's an unbelievable passer, has unbelievable feel for the game. That behind-the-back pass he had was really dope," Haliburton said. "He has a knack, like T.J., I've just being able to get baseline and kind of play there."
Smith, for his part, didn’t sound bothered by any of it. Speaking with Tony East after the game, he said road crowds have always brought out his competitive edge.
"I kinda love it," Smith said. "For me, my entire life, I've loved away games. I always loved those environments."
He also said he didn’t quite understand why Iowa State fans singled him out.
"They came to our place last year and beat us by 30," Smith said. "If I had 30 and I had a good game, totally understand.
I didn't even play that game, and we lost. So, I was like, why are they booing me?
If anything, they should be cheering me on."
Smith added a playful shot at the Cyclones’ fan base while defending the atmosphere at Mackey Arena.
"I loved Mackey home games, and our fan base is better than that, so them thinking 'boo' was gonna do anything as funny," Smith said. "But it's awesome. It's all fun and games, and it's a sign of respect, too."
For a player who spent four seasons dealing with Big Ten road environments, the noise didn’t seem to faze him much. What should have been a celebration for Haliburton turned into an unexpectedly hostile night for the Pacers’ rookie guard - and Smith looked like he was having a hard time being bothered by it.
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