Tyrese Haliburton is not 100 percent.
After a 120-109 Game 5 loss to the Thunder in the NBA Finals, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle confirmed during his postgame press conference that Haliburton is playing through an injury.
Haliburton tallied just four points and didn’t hit a shot from the field in 34 minutes.
“He’s not 100 percent,” Carlisle told reporters. “It’s pretty clear. But I don’t think he’s going to miss the next game.”
Carlisle said the star point guard re-aggravated a lower-leg injury he suffered in Game 2 of the Finals, while Hailburton said it was in the “same area.”
The lower-calf tightness almost forced Haliburton out of Monday night’s game at halftime, but the star insisted on playing.
“It’s the Finals, man. It’s the NBA Finals,” Haliburton said. “I’ve worked my whole life to be here and I want to be out there to compete, help my teammates any way I can. I was not great tonight by any means, but it’s not really a though of mine to not play here. If I can help walk, then I want to play.
“Gotta be ready to go for Game 6.”
While Carlisle said he thought Haliburton “made a lot of really good things happen in the second half,” Haliburton’s offense did suffer due to the injury.
He went 0-6 from the field, including four misses from deep.
The Pacers committed 22 turnovers, with Haliburton adding three.
“All three of our losses in this series, turnovers have been a big reason why,” he said.
As Haliburton struggled, Thunder small forward Jalen Williams had an excellent game to put Oklahoma City one win away from its first title.
He scored 40 points, while adding six rebounds and four assists.
Although the injury is significant enough to hamper Haliburton, he made it clear he will play in Game 6 in Indianapolis with the Pacers’ season on the line.
Indiana will need a better performance from him if it hopes to force a Game 7 on Sunday in Oklahoma City.
“The thought is if you lose, your season is over,” Haliburton said. “Our backs are against the wall. We take pride in playing at home in front of our fans and our fans are amazing, so we know they’re going to come out with a ton of energy in Game 6. So, we’re going to have to respond and be better and look forward to the challenge. … You got to look at Game 6 like it’s a Game 7. If you lose, your season is over.”
