Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton Downgraded vs Bulls with New Injury

The All-NBA Indiana star has incurred a troubling fresh ailment.

Dec 6, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) drives to the basket against Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball (2) during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images / Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

All-NBA Indiana Pacers star point guard Tyrese Haliburton has incurred a troubling fresh ailment.

Per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star, the 6-foot-5 vet has seen his status downgraded to questionable by Indiana ahead of Wednesday's tilt against the Chicago Bulls due to a right ankle sprain.

Dopirak notes that Haliburton appeared to hurt the ankle late into the second quarter of Indiana's 113-99 victory against the lowly Brooklyn Nets on Monday night, but observes that Haliburton played through it in the second half and still submitted a solid night.

Tyrese Haliburton listed as questionable on the injury report for tomorrow's game against the Bulls with a right ankle sprain. Seemed like he tweaked it right before the half last night and he did play in the second half and was pretty effective.

— Dustin Dopirak (@DustinDopirak) January 7, 2025

Haliburton finished the game with a Pacers-best 23 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field (1-of-2 from deep) and 9-of-9 shooting from the foul line, eight assists, two rebounds, one steal and a block in 31:55 of action.

Nominal sixth man Bennedict Mathurin, who's been starting for injured starting small forward Aaron Nesmith, scored 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor (3-of-6 from long range) and 1-of-2 shooting from the charity stripe, while also chipping in three rebounds and two assists. All-NBA Pacers power forward Pascal Siakam logged 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the floor and 5-of-5 shooting from the free throw line, six rebounds and two dishes. Myles Turner contributed 10 points and five rebounds, while off the bench power forward Obi Toppin scored 11 points and pulled down five boards.

Brooklyn bench center Day'Ron Sharpe led the Nets with a 16-point, 13-rebound double-double, while starters Ziaire Williams, Noah Clowney, Tyrese Martin and Keon Johnson all also scored in double figures for the Nets.

The double-digit win improved Indiana to a 19-18 record on the year, while dropping Brooklyn to 13-23.

The 17-19 Bulls, meanwhile, have played their way into respectability recently. Chicago has now won two straight games, and has gone 6-4 across its last 10 bouts. On Monday, Chicago mounted a ferocious rally from down 19 to beat All-Defensive center Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs, 114-110. Two-time All-Star small forward Zach LaVine scored a game-high 35 points on 13-of-25 shooting from the floor (3-of-6 from deep) and 6-of-7 shooting from the foul line, pulled down 10 rebounds and dished out eight dimes. Starting guard Coby White scored 23 points and notched a mind-breaking dunk on Wembanyama. Center Nikola Vucevic had some critical late-game defense (yes, defense) on Wembanyama, finishing with a 24-point, 11-rebound double-double. On paper, the Pacers are more talented, especially with the Bulls' best point-of-attack defender, Ayo Dosunmu, hurt. But Chicago is feisty.

If Haliburton is unavailable, the Bulls could inch that much closer to .500 and secure a win.

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