Tyrese Haliburton exited the Indiana Pacers’ Sport 2 loss to the Boston Celtics with at the very least his second hamstring harm of the season, and there may be now growing doubt as as to if or not he’ll be capable to return in any respect in the course of the NBA Playoffs.
With the Pacers trailing 0-2 heading into Sport 3 of the Japanese Convention Finals, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that the Pacers would “err on the aspect of warning with their franchise star,” and Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle primarily confirmed that on Saturday, saying pregame that whereas Haliburton “desperately desires to play,” the Pacers will not be going to let him danger a extra severe harm whereas enjoying by way of one other hamstring pressure:
Rick Carlisle supplies a Tyrese Haliburton replace earlier than any questions are requested on the pregame presser:
“He desperately desires to play.. the choice was taken out of his palms earlier at the moment.” pic.twitter.com/8Fs2zxvRcN
— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzellNBA) Could 25, 2024
Woj’s follow-up report on TV made it sound unlikely at finest that Haliburton will return for Sport 4, or in any respect this postseason:
UPDATE (5/26) — Carlisle stated after the Pacers’ Sunday follow that he had no updates on whether or not or not his All-Star guard would be capable to return for Sport 4, and the staff formally listed him as questionable to play:
No replace from Rick Carlisle on Tyrese Haliburton at the moment. The Pacers checked out some stuff on each ends that Carlisle deemed correctable whereas additionally working by way of the positives they hope to proceed doing properly.
— Tony East (@TonyREast) Could 26, 2024
First harm report forward of Sport 4:
Kristaps Porzingis: out
Luke Kornet: questionable
Jrue Vacation: questionableTyrese Haliburton: questionable
Bennedict Mathurin: out— Tony East (@TonyREast) Could 26, 2024
Haliburton missed 10 video games earlier this season with the identical harm, and appeared restricted when he returned whereas generally solely enjoying the league-required minimal of 20 minutes to qualify for the NBA’s new 65-game threshold for All-NBA staff eligibility (Haliburton later made the third staff, qualifying him for practically a $41 million bonus on his present supermax contract).
Andrew Nembhard began Sport 3 with Haliburton out, and if he stays sidelined shifting ahead, count on the Pacers to proceed to play backup level guard and tremendous sub T.J. McConnell as many minutes as he can deal with till his All-Star backcourt mate returns.
And if this wasn’t clear already after McConnell scored 23 factors to go along with 9 rebounds and 6 assists off the bench to assist the Pacers practically steal Sport 3 with out Haliburton, if there may be anybody prepared with sufficient self-belief to attempt to shock the world by stealing a win from Boston, it’s him, as our personal Katie Heindl made clear in a latest profile as a part of our ongoing playoffs protection:
“I’ve this factor the place you may management how onerous you play. So if you cannot give 100%, what are we even doing?”
i profiled the go stealing, choose you up from 94ft terror, your fav nba participant’s fav menace, the frenetic drive that’s t.j. mcconnell https://t.co/GvodMmMRuX
— Katie Heindl (@wtevs) Could 25, 2024
The Pacers will face the Celtics in Sport 4 at 8 p.m. ET in Indiana in a matchup televised on ESPN and ESPN 2.
This submit will proceed to replace with the newest on Haliburton’s standing.