A herculean 2024-25 campaign saw Tyrese Haliburton drag the Indiana Pacers all the way to the NBA Finals, where he picked up the Achilles injury that has seen him miss the current season. Regardless, things have become slightly worse as the two-time All-Star has now been diagnosed with shingles, a viral condition that is expected to keep him away from the team for a period of ‘two to three weeks.’
“It’s a very painful thing. He will likely make a full recovery. “He was meeting us in D.C. and had some odd symptoms. It’s a unique case, a unique situation… but he’s always in a good mood, so he’ll get through it,” head coach Rick Carlisle said about Haliburton’s condition, per IndyStar.
Carlisle proceeded to communicate Haliburton's importance to the team, claiming that for the Pacers, “trying to survive at a high level without a guy like that is extremely difficult.”
Indiana entered the week with a 15–43 record and only have one player, in the form of Pascal Siakam, averaging more than 20 points per game.
The Pacers have effectively been stripped of their offensive engine. Apart from Haliburton being the best playmaker on the team, he was also always capable of scoring from any range at any given point.
In his absence, Indiana has further lent into their ‘team-first’ system with Bennedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard averaging around 17 points per game. While the latest diagnosis does not have any impact on Haliburton’s overall timeline, the 25-year-old is undoubtedly going through a painful period.
The Pacers are plump 15th in the Eastern Conference and on track for a lottery pick, and are likely already looking at the next season, with Haliburton also set to return. For the time being, they are traversing through a three-game losing streak and will take on the Philadelphia 76ers next.
