Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Halliburton suffered a hamstring injury in Thursday night’s 126-110 loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals and will now miss Game 3 on Saturday, according to Shams Sarania and Joe Worden. Athletic.
Halliburton walked out of Game 2 and headed to the locker room with less than three minutes left in the third quarter. Shortly after, the Pacers sidelined their point guard for the rest of the game with a sore left hamstring. He finished with 10 points, eight assists and four rebounds in 28 minutes.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said Halliburton’s hamstring hurt at halftime after Game 2, but he opted to test it in the third quarter.
“He gave it a shot and gave it all he could,” Carlisle said. “It didn’t go well. So the coaches decided he had to go back and work.”
Halliburton was injured defending Celtics forward Jayson Tatum. Moving sideways, Halliburton took a bad step and grimaced as he stumbled sideways.
Halliburton missed 10 games during the regular season with a strained left hamstring, and Thursday’s injury is an added concern for the Pacers. After an incredible start to the season, Halliburton’s numbers dropped significantly following his return from injury in late January. Some speculated that he may have returned earlier than usual in an effort to meet the league’s newly imposed 65-game limit for awards consideration.
|
Prior injury |
23.6 |
12.5 |
49.7% |
40.3% |
|
post-injury |
16.8 |
9.3 |
45.5% |
32.4% |
Even with the statistical decline, Halliburton still led the league in assists per game (10.9) and was named to the All-NBA third team on Wednesday, allowing him It gets an additional $41 million He signed a contract extension last season.
The engine of Indiana’s high-octane offense, Halliburton averaged 18.7 points, 8.2 assists and 4.8 rebounds on 49/38/85 shooting splits during an up-and-down postseason. His scoring is a bellwether for the Pacers as he averages 21 points in wins compared to 16 points in losses.
With Halliburton expected to miss Game 3, point guard duties will be split between starting shooting guard Andrew Nembhardt and backup TJ McConnell. Before Thursday’s loss, Nembhardt was plus-23 heading into the playoffs, McConnell was minus-five, while Halliburton was plus-59. Needless to say, the Pacers need their position leader if they have any chance of winning four of their next five games against the powerhouse Celtics.