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Tyrese Haliburton progressing and ahead of schedule with hamstring injury, still ranks first in Eastern Conference guard All-Star voting

Haliburton is getting healthy

Tony East

Tyrese Haliburton progressing and ahead of schedule with hamstring injury, still ranks first in Eastern Conference guard All-Star voting
Tyrese Haliburton progressing and ahead of schedule with hamstring injury, still ranks first in Eastern Conference guard All-Star voting /

Tyrese Haliburton is still sidelined with his hamstring injury, but he is progressing toward a return, and perhaps earlier than originally anticipated.

Just over one week ago, AllPacers reported that Haliburton would be re-evaluated after the Pacers ongoing road trip with a Grade 1 hamstring strain. He has missed Indiana's last four games, and the Pacers have gone 2-2 in that span.

The blue and gold have three games left on their ongoing road trip, which concludes on Sunday in Phoenix. But this week, Haliburton's injury timeline changed a bit. 

On Tuesday, he discussed it on an ESPN+ broadcast of the Iowa State vs BYU men's college basketball game. "I'm good. I should be back in a couple of days. dodged a big injury. God is good," he said with about 13 minutes to go in the second half.

A couple days could mean anything. The Pacers play tonight in Sacramento and tomorrow in Portland before facing the Suns in Phoenix on Sunday. It makes sense for them to exercise caution with their star player, but he appears to be getting healthy.

The young guard has been on the entire road trip with the Pacers. And on Thursday, he participated in shootaround ahead of his team's upcoming battle with the Kings. He was, at the time, listed as questionable on the injury report.

Despite that designation, he won't suit up. "He's not playing tonight," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle told reporters earlier today. "[His] progress is steady and consistent."

Carlisle added that Haliburton has no specific game that is being targeted for a return. The star guard also spoke to reporters after shootaround on Thursday.

"I'm good, I'm good. I'm ahead of schedule," he said to gathered media of his injury status. "Whatever is the right time for me, and the medical staff agrees, I'll be back." Haliburton added that internally, there was a thought that there could be an opportunity for him to come back during the ongoing road trip. 

The All-Star guard is averaging 23.6 points and a league-leading 12.5 assists per game this season. His return will make the Pacers a threatening team, especially after the acquisition of Pascal Siakam.

Those stats are also a factor in another positive update regarding Haliburton on Thursday. The third round of fan voting returns for 2024 NBA All-Star starters was revealed, and the Pacers star still is in first place among Eastern Conference guards.

Haliburton has over 2.7 million votes, and he is over 900k ahead of any other guard in the East. Only Luka Doncic has more fan nominations among all guards in the entire league.

The Pacers leader has been on top of the Eastern Conference guard voting list throughout the process, and his gap over the rest of the field continues to grow. Fan voting began on December 20 and ends in two days on January 20.

Per the league, fans account for 50% of the vote to decide All-Star starters while NBA players and a media panel account for 25% each. The starters for the 2024 All-Star game, which will take place in Indianapolis, will be announced on January 25.

"The type of player that he is, number one. His infectious spirit is another. He makes guys better, he makes spectacular plays," Carlisle told reporters of Haliburton being number one in fan voting.

Haliburton may not return to action before the fan voting process is over, but he looks likely to finish in first place among Eastern Conference guards in that ranking. That gives him a good chance to start in the All-Star game next month, and he could return to the court for the Pacers soon, too. It's been a positive week for the 23-year old star.

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Tony East
TONY EAST

Tony East is the Publisher of AllPacers. He has previously written for Forbes Sports, the West Indianapolis Community News, WTHR, and more while hosting the Locked On Pacers podcast.

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