Tyrese Haliburton will miss Game 3 of the Indiana Pacers Eastern Conference finals matchup with the Boston Celtics. He re-aggravated a hamstring when facing Joe Mazzulla’s team on Thursday, leaving the court and failing to return. The Celtics hold a 2-0 lead on the series heading into Saturday’s game.
If the Celtics win in Game 3, they will be one victory away from a second trip to the NBA Finals in three years. However, if Haliburton is forced to miss the rest of the series, there will be a significant asterisk next to Boston’s postseason run.
The media narrative will be that it faced multiple teams without its top stars. The Celtics defeated a Jimmy Butler-less Miami Heat in the opening round. The Cleveland Cavaliers missed Jarrett Allen, and Donovan Mitchell sat out the final two games. Haliburton would be the latest star to suffer an injury during a series against Boston, thus making its path easier.
The Celtics won’t mind, though. After all, you can only beat what’s in front of you, and they will point to the fact that teams usually play harder when missing their star player. They also deserve praise for remaining professional and not lowering their guard against injury-hit teams.
Even if Haliburton does return for Game 4, he is unlikely to be near his best. Hamstring issues usually take weeks to heal. Indiana was already struggling to overcome an elite Celtics team; without Haliburton, their chances of success drastically fell.
The Celtics now face a lose-lose situation. If they defeat the Pacers, they will have an easy path. However, if they drop a couple of games, their championship credentials will be questioned. Still, Mazzulla’s team is unlikely to mind if it gets closer to its end goal of winning the franchise’s first championship since 2008.
