Tyrese Haliburton discusses the Pacers’ Game 5 loss to the Thunder
Tyrese Haliburton, dealing with a lower-leg injury had just four points with zero field goals in the Pacers’ 120-109 loss to the Thunder.
With the status of injured star Tyrese Haliburton, the Indiana Pacers caught a break.
As Indiana faces elimination, Haliburton will play Thursday, June 19 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, coach Rick Carlisle announced.
“Tyrese is going to play,” Carlisle said during a pre-game press conference. “He was strength tested at 5 p.m. (ET) and did very well, went through walk-through. There’s no set minutes limit; we will watch and monitor things very closely from the beginning of the game through the entirety of the game, and we’ll go from there.”
The Thunder are holding a 3-2 series lead in the Finals.
Haliburton underwent an MRI Tuesday that revealed a right calf strain from an injury he suffered Monday, June 16, during Indiana’s 120-109 loss in Game 5.
He stumbled midway through the first quarter of that game and immediately favored his right calf, the same leg he hurt during the Eastern Conference finals. Haliburton said Wednesday, June 18, however, that the previous injury was a separate one, to his ankle.
Haliburton had been receiving treatment throughout the week, including massages, electric stimulation and hyperbaric treatments. Despite the complicated nature of calf injuries and lower leg injuries, Haliburton had insisted that he would do whatever he could to play Thursday night.
Haliburton did say Wednesday, however, that “it would probably be the case” that he would miss one or two weeks if it was the regular season.
“If I can walk, then I want to play,” Haliburton said Monday night.
He’s in the starting lineup for Game 6.
Haliburton and the Pacers, however, will have to monitor how he responds to increased activity. Other questions facing Haliburton and Indiana are about pain tolerance and any potential physical limitations caused by the calf strain.
“If he’s just bringing the ball up, distributing or in a position where he is just jumping up and down, trying to grab a rebound, it’s a little more controlled,’’ orthopedic surgeon William McGarvey told USA TODAY Sports. “But if he’s jumping for a rebound, if he’s going up for a layup or a dunk, he’s got to push off. He could hurt himself on landing. He could hurt himself if he’s going up against another player. These guys get in awkward positions and they have to be fairly agile to be able to land effectively and things like that.
“The other issue here is how the injury is affecting him. Is it causing him to just have pain when he pushes off or is it because it’s irritated? Is it causing him spasms so that even when he’s sitting and resting, he’s getting a crampy feeling in his leg?”
Another concern becomes the risk of further injury. Three orthopedic surgeons who spoke to USA TODAY Sports said there is no evidence that a strained calf can lead to a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Haliburton is averaging 17.9 points and 9.1 assists per game in the playoffs. He’s hit game-winning or game-tying shots in four playoff comebacks for the Pacers and helped them reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000. This is just the second Finals trip in franchise history.
Entering Thursday, Haliburton was averaging 20.8 points per game on 15.9 shot attempts in Indiana’s playoff victories; in losses, those figures plummeted to 12.1 on 10.7 attempts.
