Tyrese Haliburton exited the Indiana Pacers’ Game 2 loss to the Boston Celtics with at least his second hamstring injury of the season, and there is now increasing doubt as to whether or not he will be able to return at all during the NBA Playoffs.
Tyrese Haliburton Injury Updates: Pacers star officially OUT for Game 4
Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton has been ruled out for Game 4 vs. the Celtics with another hamstring strain.
Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images
Harrison Faigen has been covering the NBA (primarily the Lakers) since 2013, and is currently the Associate Director of Pro Basketball coverage for SB Nation.
UPDATE (5/27) — The Pacers officially declared Haliburton out for Game 4.
The Pacers trail 0-3 in the series. The Pacers will face the Celtics in Game 4 at 8 p.m. ET in Indiana in a matchup televised on ESPN and ESPN 2.
Original story follows.
With the Pacers trailing 0-2 heading into Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that the Pacers would “err on the side of caution with their franchise star,” and Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle essentially confirmed that on Saturday, saying pregame that while Haliburton “desperately wants to play,” the Pacers are not going to let him risk a more serious injury while playing through another hamstring strain:
Woj’s follow-up report on TV made it sound unlikely at best that Haliburton will return for Game 4, or at all this postseason:
UPDATE (5/26) — Carlisle said after the Pacers’ Sunday practice that he had no updates on whether or not his All-Star guard would be able to return for Game 4, and the team officially listed him as questionable to play:
Haliburton missed 10 games earlier this season with the same injury, and appeared limited when he returned while sometimes only playing the league-required minimum of 20 minutes to qualify for the NBA’s new 65-game threshold for All-NBA team eligibility (Haliburton later made the third team, qualifying him for nearly a $41 million bonus on his current supermax contract).
Andrew Nembhard started Game 3 with Haliburton out, and if he remains sidelined moving forward, expect the Pacers to continue to play backup point guard and super sub T.J. McConnell as many minutes as he can handle until his All-Star backcourt mate returns.
And if this wasn’t clear already after McConnell scored 23 points to go with 9 rebounds and 6 assists off the bench to help the Pacers nearly steal Game 3 without Haliburton, if there is anyone ready with enough self-belief to try and shock the world by stealing a win from Boston, it’s him, as our own Katie Heindl made clear in a recent profile as part of our ongoing playoffs coverage:
This post will continue to update with the latest on Haliburton’s status.
See More:
