Tyrese Haliburton’s status unknown after Pacers star left Game 2 with hamstring injury

BOSTON — The Indiana Pacers aren’t solely in an 0-2 gap to the Boston Celtics within the Jap Convention Finals, however the group is now awaiting phrase on star guard Tyrese Haliburton. The 2-time All-Star left Thursday night time’s Sport 2 loss in Boston with a hamstring harm, placing his standing for the remainder of the collection in query.

Haliburton injured himself with simply over six minutes left within the third quarter Thursday night time whereas attempting to defend Jayson Tatum. He took an ungainly step whereas sliding with the C’s ahead, and grimaced in ache as he stumbled. He remained within the recreation and even introduced the ball up the courtroom on Indiana’s subsequent possession, however didn’t return after limping to the locker room with three minuets left within the quarter.

The Pacers dominated him out a short while later, and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Haliburton was coping with left hamstring soreness. That is particularly worrisome for the Pacers, as Haliburton missed 10 video games through the common season with a hamstring situation.

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle did not have a lot on Haliburton’s standing after the sport, however mentioned that the hamstring was bothering his star level guard at halftime.

“He gave it a shot and gave all of it the hassle that he may,” mentioned Carlisle. “It wasn’t going properly. So the trainers decided that he wanted to go to the again and get labored on.”

The Pacers are hoping for excellent news on Friday, because the collection shifts to Indiana for Sport 3 on Saturday.

In his 28 minutes in Sport 2, Haliburton scored 10 factors and dished out eight assists. He was an actual thorn in Boston’s aspect in Sport 1, draining six threes on his strategy to 25 factors to go along with 10 assists, three rebounds, and three steals. 

Dropping Haliburton for any time can be an enormous blow to the Pacers and one other large break for the Celtics, who did not should take care of Donovan Mitchell of their last two video games of their second-round collection win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. If Haliburton is compelled out of the lineup, the Pacers will rely closely on Andrew Nembhard (16 factors in Sport 2) and TJ McConnell (9 factors) going ahead. 

However not having their star participant would make an uphill battle even harder, because the Pacers now must win 4 of their subsequent 5 video games towards a Celtics group that’s decided to win a title this season.