Rick Carlisle Gives Insight on Tyrese Haliburton Decision, Game 4 Availability

The star will miss Game 3, but the remainder of the series is an unknown.
Oct 30, 2023; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle and guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) look on in the second half against the Chicago Bulls at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 30, 2023; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle and guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) look on in the second half against the Chicago Bulls at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports / Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Tyrese Haliburton will miss Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday with a hamstring injury. The Indiana Pacers are down 2-0 in the series to the Boston Celtics and are now without their top player as they look to ward off the possibility of a daunting three-game deficit.

The news came from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, but as tip-off neared, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle also provided some insight into the decision.

Carlisle firstly noted that the Pacers took the decision away from Haliburton, ultimately protecting him from himself.

"He very much wants to play. Desperately wants to play. But the decision on tonight was taken out of his hands earlier in the day. It was determined that tonight was not an option," Carlisle said according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic.

Interestingly, Weiss said the coach added that Haliburton is, "feeling better," and said that the team will see how the injury is doing heading into Game 4 on Monday, which will be in Indianapolis.

Pascal Siakam, who is averaging 26 points per game in this series, will likely need to take on an even larger scoring load. The Pacers will also look to players like center Myles Turner, guard Andrew Nembhard, and role-players like Obi Toppin and T.J. McConnell to shoulder larger loads offensively.


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Josh Wilson
JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.