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

BOSTON — The Indiana Pacers should not 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 Recreation 2 loss in Boston with a hamstring damage, placing his standing for the remainder of the sequence in query.

Haliburton injured himself with simply over six minutes left within the third quarter Thursday night time whereas making an attempt 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 court docket 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 in the course of the common season with a hamstring difficulty.

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

“He gave it a shot and gave all of it the trouble that he may,” stated Carlisle. “It wasn’t going effectively. 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 sequence shifts to Indiana for Recreation 3 on Saturday.

In his 28 minutes in Recreation 2, Haliburton scored 10 factors and dished out eight assists. He was an actual thorn in Boston’s aspect in Recreation 1, draining six threes on his approach 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 huge break for the Celtics, who did not need to take care of Donovan Mitchell of their closing two video games of their second-round sequence win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. If Haliburton is pressured out of the lineup, the Pacers will rely closely on Andrew Nembhard (16 factors in Recreation 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.