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The Indiana Pacers are on the brink of elimination against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, and star point guard Tyrese Haliburton has been ruled out for Game 4.
Haliburton missed the heartbreaking Game 3 loss with a hamstring injury suffered in Game 2 and was initially listed a questionable to play on Monday night, according to the NBA's official injury report. However, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle confirmed he's a no-go.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported over the weekend that Haliburton's status “is in serious question” and that the Pacers star will be reassessed prior to Game 4 before a final decision is made. Indiana “intends to err on the side of caution” with Haliburton, per Woj.
While Haliburton obviously wants to be out there to try to keep the Pacers' season alive, it's understandable to play it safe given this series is basically over. No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in NBA history, though these Celtics did almost pull it off last season against the Miami Heat.
Of course, these are very different circumstances, including the fact Haliburton missed time earlier this season with the same injury. Putting the guard at risk of a much more serious injury that could impact next season just doesn't make sense at this point.
Pacers' Game 3 without Tyrese Haliburton
While Tyrese Haliburton's injury in Game 2 seemed to totally doom the Pacers, they played well for most of Game 3 and should have won. Indiana led by 18 points in the second half and still held an eight-point advantage with just under three minutes to play in the game, only to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory once again with poor execution down the stretch.
It wasn't just a Pacers collapse, though, with the Celtics hitting big shot after big shot to close the gap and then ultimately win the game. Jrue Holiday made the game-winning plays, stealing the ball from Andrew Nembhard in the waning moments right after a go-ahead and-1.
While Nembhard had a career game with 32 points and nine assists, Haliburton's presence was missed in crunch time. In addition to his poor decision to go right at Holiday with little hope, the young Pacers guard also missed a questionable shot the possession before. Haliburton didn't exactly cover himself in glory in the clutch during the Game 1 debacle, but it's still better to have an All-Star point guard out there in the biggest moments when the game needs to be won.
Must-win Game 4
The Pacers have been underestimated for much of these playoffs and could easily be up 2-1 in this series, even with the Tyrese Haliburton injury. But now that it's 3-0 Celtics and Haliburton is still hurting, there's truly no hope to actually win these Eastern Conference Finals.
Still, don't totally count out Indiana on Monday. The Pacers will continue to battle in front of their home fans, and perhaps their opponent will relax a bit with such a big lead. It would behoove Boston to just get this done Monday to set up a long rest before the NBA Finals, but it can sometimes be human nature to not go all out when there's not as much desperation. And perhaps they'll be feeling a bit gentlemanly.
Indiana has an explosive offense that had a lot of success in Game 3 before the final minutes, so another big performance from them could extend this series even without Haliburton.
