Tyrese Haliburton fights through back pain, puts up rare numbers in Indiana Pacers win over Bulls

Haliburton put up ridiculous numbers in the Pacers most recent win

CHICAGO — Back pain wasn't going to stop Tyrese Haliburton from making history on Thursday night.

The Indiana Pacers star guard had to leave his team's morning shootaround due to lower back issues. Head coach Rick Carlisle wasn't sure he was going to play and was non-committal about Haliburton's status less than two hours before tipoff. There was less than an hour remaining before the game was set to begin when it became known that Haliburton was going to play.

Indiana's All-Star saw every trainer on the Pacers staff that he could throughout the day. He wanted every opinion he could get about his pain. He loves playing on the road and wanted to suit up in Chicago against the Bulls.

When he got back to his hotel room, he refused to sit down. He set up his Steam Deck by propping it up on top of his suitcase, which was already on top of a desk, so that he could play it standing up.

"I played Super Mario Strikers," Haliburton shared. He and player development coach Isaac Yacob play season mode together on professional difficulty.

All of the standing to keep his back straight, and combined with treatment throughout the day, allowed Haliburton to play. It was the same building in which he hit a massive clutch shot earlier in this calendar year, and it was an important divisional game. The star guard wanted to suit up badly and made it happen.

Indiana was thrilled that he did. The 23-year old was sensational. In a 16-point victory, the Pacers outscored the Bulls by 32 points with Haliburton on the court, including +19 in the fourth quarter. The blue and gold were down three with 7:23 to go, and then Haliburton changed everything and led his team to a big win.

The Pacers blew a 25-point lead.
Haliburton came back in, and then this happened: pic.twitter.com/wOkLFt4G2j

— Tyler Smith (@TylerSmith_ISL) December 29, 2023

"He just took over," Pacers center Myles Turner said after the game. "Pretty remarkable," Carlisle added.

Despite fighting through lower back pain, Haliburton played for just over 37 minutes. That is about Carlisle's maximum for a player in a regular season game. But they needed the point guard out there as often as possible. He was critical to the team's success.

"Just love the moment. I love playing basketball," Haliburton said of his fourth quarter brilliance.

In the end, Haliburton finished with a historic statline. He had 21 points, 20 assists, and zero turnovers — he became the second player in NBA history to have 20+ points and 20+ assists in one game without turning the ball over. The first one was Chris Paul, who did it back in 2016. Paul had 20 points that night, so Haliburton actually outscored him.

The only other Pacers player to ever have a 20-20 game was Jalen Rose back in April of 2001. He had 22 points and 20 assists that day, but he turned the ball over four times. Haliburton's outing on Thursday was sensational.

"It's cool. It's cool. I've done a terrible job taking care of the ball lately, so it's good seeing zero turnovers again," Haliburton said of his stat line. He recently shared his frustrations with his turnover numbers when discussing the new attention he is getting from defenses.

On this night, though, he was poised and sensational. The Pacers don't beat the Bulls without him, but thanks to a historic night from a banged-up Haliburton, Indiana won their second-straight road game and stayed above .500.

"He's a player that plays with great emotion, but he's really learned how to channel those emotions the right way to be a leader of this team," Carlisle said. Haliburton was a leader on the bench for his team all night even as they gave up a huge run, and he maintained that energy on the court as he put up a rare statline in a victory.

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