Tyrese Haliburton, the emerging Indiana Pacers’ star and NBA All-Star, has a right calf muscle strain. This injury casts some serious shadows on his availability for the next games. The injury happened in Game 5 of the tight series, where he’d logged 34 minutes total. To determine just how bad the strain is, Haliburton will be getting an MRI soon.
In Game 5, we saw Haliburton have a rough go of it. He went scoreless for the game, taking just six shots and missing all of them. Even with Opoku’s shooting struggles, he still found a way to impact the game with four points, six assists, and seven rebounds. His production was clearly hampered once he re-injured his calf in the first quarter. He briefly left the game but returned in the second quarter with his calf wrapped, indicating a determination to support his team.
Haliburton has been the engine that’s driven Indiana’s surprising success this season. Through the first five games of the series, he’s putting up 15.0 points, 7.2 assists, and 6.2 rebounds per contest. His shooting percentage is a ludicrous 45%, underscoring his effectiveness in the offensive role. With this new injury, it’s tough to project just how effective he can be in that role going forward.
Haliburton’s right calf strain sits in a similar area to his past right ankle injury. This injury was a few years back in his career. This lengthy history of injuries is surely going to play a role in how the Pacers treat the injury and Johnston’s recovery. The squad are right to be non-committal on his availability heading into battle with teams in gilded armor.
As fans across the NBA await news from Haliburton’s MRI results, his status remains up in the air. The Pacers need to re-evaluate what they’re trying to accomplish on that end of the floor. Either way, they’ll be making a recalibration judgment based on his full recovery or moving forward without one of their best players.
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