BOSTON — The Indiana Pacers are listing star guard Tyrese Haliburton as questionable for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference Finals series against the Boston Celtics.
Haliburton exited Game 2 of the best-of-seven set with 3:44 on the clock in the third quarter and never returned. Head coach Rick Carlisle shared that the 24-year old was dealing with left hamstring soreness after the game. It’s the same hamstring that caused Haliburton to miss time earlier this calendar year.
Now, the guard is officially back on the injury report and his status is up in the air for Saturday’s Game 3. He was seen limping to the bus in TD Garden after Game 2 on Thursday night.
“It’s sore,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said of Haliburton’s left hamstring. “We’ll know more [Friday] and then probably even more Saturday.”
Haliburton is averaging 18.7 points and 8.2 assists per game so far in the playoffs. He’s been a key figure in Indiana’s Conference Finals run, and despite having just 10 points and eight assists on Thursday before leaving the game, the Pacers beat the Celtics in Haliburton’s minutes. He is tremendously impactful even when he isn’t filling up the stat sheet.
If the Pacers don’t have him, they will need to rely more on T.J. McConnell and Andrew Nembhard for ball handling. Pascal Siakam’s star-level play will become even more important, too. Boston is a tough team to beat, which is why the series is currently 0-2
“When your franchise guy goes down, obviously it’s tough,” McConnell said Thursday night. “One of those things where it’s the next man up mentality… you kind of just have to step up and be ready.”
Game 3 is tomorrow, then Game 4 of Pacers-Celtics is two nights later on Monday.
Source link : https://www.si.com/nba/pacers/news/indiana-pacers-star-tyrese-haliburton-listed-as-questionable-for-game-3-of-conference-finals-vs-boston-celtics
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Publish date : 2024-05-24 03:00:00
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