Tyrese Haliburton will miss Game 3 against the Celtics on Saturday because of a sore left hamstring.
• Download the NBA app
Indianapolis (Associated Press) Tyrese Haliburton was desperate to help his teammates fight their way back to the Eastern Conference finals.
Others within the organization deemed Haliburton unavailable, forcing him to miss Game 3 against Boston on Saturday night.
It became clear in the second half that Indiana's All-NBA guard and team leader was out with a left hamstring injury. The Pacers struggled to maintain control in a 114-111 loss to the Celtics. The team is trailing 0-3 and in danger of losing for the third time in these playoffs.
Haliburton did what he could from the bench, wearing glasses and a gold sweater, pumping his fist and encouraging his teammates to do their part.
Andrew Nembard and TJ McConnell made big shot after big shot, Myles Turner dominated the post and controlled the rebounds, and Pascal Siakam was another strong option, and the two combined to help Indiana build an 18-point lead over the team with the most wins in the NBA this season.
A few bounces or a call that went the other way might have put the Pacers in a perfect position at home this season, but they're 6-1.
“All year long, we've just been trying to play at a high level and give it our all, and that's what they did,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “As any Indiana fan would, there's a lot I disagree with, but we're not going to flinch, and we're going to come back on Monday night and extend the series.”
No NBA team has ever emerged victorious from the behind odds the Pacers currently face.
The general thinking was that if Haliburton wasn't healthy enough to play in Game 3, there wouldn't be much point in him resting another day. And if there were concerns about a more serious possible injury, would the Pacers take that risk in another win-or-lose scenario?
The Pacers have already exceeded expectations this season, ending a three-year playoff drought, a franchise-record 10-game losing streak and a decade-long streak of not making the second round, and surprised many by reaching their first conference finals since 2014.
Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard has also been working to build a roster that could take over for Haliburton if he is sidelined with an injury, but Carlisle made one thing clear Saturday night.
Indiana has no intention of losing Game 4 on Monday.8 ET on ESPN) — Halliburton in uniform or out of uniform.
“We just have to look at what's in front of us,” Carlisle said. “We have the best fans in the NBA. We have the best basketball facilities on the planet.” And we have other guys ahead of us who are going to hunt these guys down, and believe me, we're going to hunt them down.”
