Indiana Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton has missed Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics with a left hamstring injury. With his status confirmed for Game 3 on Saturday night, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that this may be the last we see of the two-time All-Star in the series.
“The Pacers are going to be cautious with his left hamstring injury, so this series may be the last we see of Tyrese Haliburton,” Wojnarowski said in an interview with ESPN. NBA Countdown.
Though the Pacers are down 2-0 in the series, Wojnarowski is confident in playing it safe and not rushing the 24-year-old Anunoby back onto the court. A similar situation occurred with OG Anunoby in the Pacers' last game against the New York Knicks. After missing time with an injury, Anunoby rushed through the schedule to play in Game 7, but his return may have had a negative impact on the team as New York lost to Indiana.
“[The Pacers] “If he goes in and plays, we're not going to put him in a situation like OG Anunoby did in Game 7 against Indiana, where he was so limited in what he could do,” Wojnarowski said of Haliburton.
This is not a new injury for Haliburton. He suffered a non-contact injury to his left hamstring in January against the Celtics, causing him to miss 10 games total.
“He was a member of this summer's U.S. Olympic team and Grant Hill selected him to be one of the guards for Team USA,” Wojnarowski added about why Haliburton will remain sidelined. “Obviously, we'll reevaluate that on Monday before Game 4, but it's very doubtful that Tyrese Haliburton will be able to return for Game 4, and possibly even this series, even though he's hopeful he'll be able to rejoin Indiana and give them a chance to return to the team they're trailing 2-0 to Boston.”
In 15 playoff games this year, Haliburton averaged 18.7 points on 48.8 percent shooting, 8.2 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals.
