The Indiana Pacers battled the Eastern Conference contending Boston Celtics on Tuesday night, trailing early in the fourth quarter.
Prior to the game, star Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton revealed his thoughts on possibly losing tens of millions of dollars due to eligibility rules. His two-word response over NBA rules that have impacted him negatively gave a glimpse into his thought process on a key matter.
Haliburton reverted to a distributing role against the Celtics on Tuesday, scoring 13 points and dishing out ten assists against the C's in Boston.
It all came apart later as Haliburton suffered an injury that he would not fully recover from, at least not on this particular night.
Haliburton Watches as Celtics Take the Lead
Haliburton watched with a towel over his head as the Celtics pushed their lead to nine points while the fourth quarter unfolded in Boston.
Previously, he hit an unreal halfcourt shot, in his first game back from injury.
Haliburton was voted an All-Star starter recently for the East but did not continue Tuesday's night's test against star forwards Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and coach Joe Mazzulla's team.
A minutes restriction factored into the equation, according to reports.
Tyrese Haliburton will not return to tonight's Pacers vs. Celtics game due to his minutes restriction, the team says.
Haliburton is still recovering from a hamstring injury. pic.twitter.com/2IyIkscQoO
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 31, 2024
“Got ten assists and dipped but allegedly not a stat padder,” one seemingly sarcastic fan said in the comments on X.
“Couldn't have spaced the minutes out a little better?” another fan added on the social media platform.
Haliburton Preparing for Strong Second Half
With averages of over 23 points and over 12 assists on the season, Haliburton appears on his way to First Team All-Pro status.
Whether he achieves or not this season remains to be seen, but he certainly has the talent to do so, if he doesn't miss too much time due to the above and other reasons.