Pacers facing prospect of having to play without star guard Tyrese Haliburton
Haliburton exited Thursday's Game 2 matchup against the Celtics with hamstring soreness.
The Pacers announced that guard Tyrese Haliburton is dealing with left hamstring soreness, and coach Rick Carlisle said he didn’t have further details after Thursday’s loss in Game 2 to the Celtics.
Carlisle said having to finish Indiana’s 126-110 loss without Halliburton was a big blow.
“He was unable to return, so it wasn’t like it was a coaching decision not to play him,” Carlisle said. “He was unable to return, so we hope that this is a very short term aggravation. But, again, we’ll know more tomorrow and then Saturday, obviously. The next game is coming quickly.”
Carlisle said to his knowledge, Haliburton did not come into the night sore. Haliburton attempted to play through the soreness, but was unable to finish.
“He was sore at halftime. He was getting worked on through the entire halftime,” Carlisle said. “Came out and gave it a shot and was giving all the effort that he could. I haven’t talked to him about him directly so i can’t read minds, but it wasn’t going well. The trainers determined that he needed to go to the back and get worked on, so he was ruled out.”
Haliburton was also dealing with a chest issue at one point in Game 2, but was able to make a quick return from it.
“I haven’t watched it again but Jaylen Brown looked like he almost went through him to get the ball and Tyrese hit the floor. So, he came back here and he had a couple tests done with his chest and he fortunately returned pretty quickly,” Carlisle said.
Haliburton missed 10 games with a left hamstring injury during the regular season.
“We’ve done a good job of that when he has been out and obviously it hurts when he goes down,” guard T.J. McConnell said., “But one of those things where it’s the next man up mentality and obviously we’ll see. We haven’t heard anything about him yet, but guys just have to step up and be ready.”
Center Pascal Siakam said the Pacers will need to find a way to play with energy if Haliburton is unable to play.
“We’ve got to be ready and we’ve got to play together,” Siakam said. “This team got to where we’re at today by having all of us and we’ve all got to stay together, continue to play together. Obviously we want Tyrese back out there but I think obviously he wasn’t feeling well so it’s on us to continue to play and bring that energy.”
McConnell said Haliburton’s production would be tough to replace because of his playmaking and versatility. He’s averaging 18.7 points, 8.2 assists, and 4.8 rebounds while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from beyond the arc.
“He does so many things for our team where I think everyone just has to move the ball more and get in the paint more,” McConnell said. “The ball movement like I said just has to be at another level. He gets, what, 10 assists in his sleep? It’s hard for another person on our team to replicate that, so it’s a group effort when he goes down to get people the ball and get it moving.”
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