INDIANAPOLIS — Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton will not play in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals Saturday and his availability is in doubt for Game 4 due to a re-injured left hamstring he suffered in Thursday’s loss to the Boston Celtics.
Haliburton underwent an MRI on Saturday that showed a strain and he’s considered day to day. A league source said he’s feeling better than he was Thursday and he was hoping to play Saturday, but doctors made the call to keep him out of Game 3.
“Tyrese very much wants to play, desperately wants to play,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle confirmed before Game 3. “The decision on tonight was taken out of his hands earlier in the day. Just determined that tonight was not an option. He is feeling better — we’ll see where he is on Monday (for Game 4). And that’s it.”
Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton is expected to miss Game 3 tonight vs. Boston due to a re-injured left hamstring, sources tell me and @joevardon. pic.twitter.com/sT4ibVl4zA
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 25, 2024
Haliburton suffered a similar injury to the same leg in January and missed 10 games. Carlisle was asked when in Game 2 Haliburton strained his hamstring again, and the coach snapped: “I gave you my Tyrese thing and I said that’s it — that’s it.”
The Celtics lead the series, 2-0. Indiana blew a late lead in Game 1 but was beaten handily in Game 2 after Haliburton was removed for good late in the third quarter. He left with 10 points and eight assists in 28 minutes, and a sore chest. Boston’s Jaylen Brown hit him while trying to get a rebound in the first half of Game 2, which caused Haliburton to get imaging on his chest at halftime.
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Haliburton, a third-team All-NBA selection this year, has averaged 18.7 points and 8.2 assists in the playoffs. The Pacers went 6-4 without him during that stretch in January, but the playoffs, and specifically the mighty Celtics, are a different beast altogether.
Boston lost just twice so far in the postseason. The Celtics will miss reserve center Luke Kornet (sprained wrist) in Game 3, and starting point guard Jrue Holiday will play despite being listed as questionable earlier Saturday with an illness.
Indiana can ill afford to lose Saturday, as no NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in a playoff series.
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(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
