Pacers hope Tyrese Haliburton's injury is just a “short-term inconvenience”

BOSTON – The Indiana Pacers have trailed 2-0 in the playoffs before, and there have been questions about injuries to their star Tyrese Haliburton before, but the latest case of such an illness seems concerning.

Haliburton left the Pacers' 126-110 loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals on Thursday with soreness in his left thigh – the same thigh that cost him 10 games in January.

The All-Star guard, who was named to the All-NBA third team, was taken out of the game with 3:44 left in the third quarter and did not return. He was dressed and left the locker room before the doors were opened to reporters.

And of course, Boston now leads 2-0 in this best-of-seven series, with Game 3 taking place Saturday night in Indianapolis.

“We hope this is just a short-term inconvenience,” said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, whose team trails 2-0 in the best-of-seven series and will play Game 3 in Indianapolis on Saturday night.

Carlisle said that to his knowledge, Haliburton's hamstring was not causing him any problems before Game 2.

At halftime, Haliburton was seen with what a Pacers spokesman described as chest pain. Carlisle said Haliburton “grabbed a rebound and Boston's Jaylen Brown looked like he almost went through him to get the ball.”

“Tyrese went down,” Carlisle continued. “So he came back here and had some chest exams done. Luckily, he came back pretty quickly.”

Haliburton grimaced at least twice in the third quarter. He took three shots and made one, and when he left the game he had totaled 10 points and eight assists in 28 minutes. The Pacers trailed by 11 points.

“He was worked out all half,” Carlisle said, referring specifically to Haliburton's thigh. “He came out and tried and gave it all he could. I didn't speak to him directly and I can't read minds, but it wasn't going well. The coaches decided he needed to go to the back to get worked out.”

Haliburton was “questionable” for the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks due to a series of minor injuries, but he did not miss any of the seven games, and none of the ailments listed on the Pacers' injury report from the last series he was involved involved a hamstring muscle. Indiana went 6-4 in the 10 games Haliburton missed in January due to a hamstring strain.

The NBA playoffs have been marred by injuries to several star players, and the Pacers have benefited so far. They played and beat the Milwaukee Bucks without Giannis Antetokounmpo missing the entire series and Damian Lillard out for part of the series. Indiana faced the Knicks with OG Anunoby, Julius Randle, Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson either missing or playing injured.

Haliburton is, of course, the driving force of the Pacers' offense. In the playoffs, he averaged 18.7 points and 8.2 assists.

“This is not a job for one person,” said Pacers center Myles Turner, who had just eight points and four rebounds in Game 2. “We came here as a team and we have to keep playing that way.”

Carlisle said: “We will know more (on Friday) and even more on Saturday.”

The Celtics' playoff series so far have been heavily affected by injuries. In the first round, they faced the Miami Heat without Jimmy Butler. And in the second round against Cleveland, Jarrett Allen did not play at all, while Donovan Mitchell missed the last two games of the series. Boston had to play without Kristaps Porziņģis (calf injury), but could have him back before the end of this series.

The Celtics dominated most of the second half on Thursday, while Haliburton struggled. Brown led the way with 40 points, and Jayson Tatum and Derrick White each added 23 points. Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 28 points; Andrew Nembhard added 16 points for Indiana.

“When a franchise player goes down, it's obviously tough, but this is a time for this group — which has been this year — where everyone has to step up and take on a bigger role,” said Pacers reserve TJ McConnell, who scored nine points in 17 minutes in Game 2. “We did well when he was out, and obviously it hurts when he's out, but (it's) one of those things where the 'next guy's up' mentality comes into play. … We haven't heard from him yet, but the guys just have to step up and be ready.”

The Celtics lost reserve center Luke Kornet in the first half on Thursday due to a sprained left wrist. He played five minutes and did not return from the injury.

The athleteEric Nehm contributed to this.

Required reading

(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)