Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton Dealing With Left Hamstring Injury Vs. Celtics

BOSTON — Tyrese Haliburton made life hard for the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, dropping 25 points and 10 assists.

The Indiana Pacers star did not get the chance to fully impact the team’s Game 2 loss to the Celtics, leaving the game with what head coach Rick Carlisle described as a “left hamstring” injury.

“We’ll know more tomorrow and probably even more on Saturday,” Carlisle told reporters.

Haliburton also hurt his left hamstring against the Celtics back on Jan. 8. In addition to the leg injury, the 24-year-old also underwent testing on his chest during halftime before a brief return to action.

“He got a rebound and Jaylen Brown, I’ll have to watch it again, Jaylen Brown looked like he almost went through him to get the ball,” Carlisle recalled. “Tyrese hit the floor. He came back here and he had a couple tests done with his chest.”

The Pacers now trail the best-of-seven series 2-0 to the Celtics and could have to fight back, possibly without the steady production (18.7 PPG, 8.2 RPG in the postseason) of their franchise player.

“He was unable to return, so it wasn’t like it was a coach’s decision not to play him,” Carlisle said. “He was unable to return. We hope that this is a very short-term aggravation. … I haven’t talked to him about it directly,” Carlisle added. “It wasn’t going well.”

Haliburton’s status will be pivotal for the Pacers when the Celtics visit Indiana for Game 3 on Saturday.