Will Tyrese Haliburton play in Game 6 of NBA Finals?
INDIANAPOLIS -- Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton will be available for Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder despite a right calf strain.
The Thunder lead the series 3-2 heading into Thursday's 8:30 p.m. game in Gainbridge Fieldhouse and have a chance to clinch the series.
"Tyrese will play," Rick Carlisle opened his pregame news conference. "He was strength-tested at 5 p.m., and did very well. Went through walk-through. there's no set minutes limit, but we will watch and monitor things very closely."
Haliburton suffered the injury when he stumbled trying to drive to the rim in the first quarter of Monday's Game 5. He remained in the game and played 34 minutes but scored just four points and missed all six of his field goal attempts. He had an MRI on Tuesday and acknowledged on Wednesday it showed a calf strain, but said, "I'm a competitor. I want to play. I'm going to do everything in my power to play." He said he expected to do around-the-clock treatment on his leg until game time.
Carlisle said Wednesday that Haliburton's status would be a game-time decision.
Re-live the Pacers unbelievable run to the 2025 NBA Finals with IndyStar's commemorative book
Haliburton earned third-team All-NBA honors for the second straight season in 2024-25, averaging 18.6 points and 9.2 assists per game and leading all NBA players with at least 50 appearances in assist-to-turnover ratio at 5.61. In the playoffs, he's averaging 17.9 points and 9.1 assists per game, the highest figure of any player in the playoffs. He's hit dramatic game-winning or game-tying shots in each of the Pacers' four historically improbable comeback wins in the postseason — victories over the Bucks in Game 5 of the first round, the Cavs in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals and the Thunder in Game 1 of the Finals.
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