Tyrese Haliburton expected to miss Game 3 vs. Celtics in Pacers injury nightmare

The Pacers’ quest to avoid falling into a 3-0 Eastern Conference Final deficit just became even more challenging.

Star guard Tyrese Haliburton is expected to miss Game 3 against the Celtics on Saturday due to a left hamstring injury that caused him to exit Thursday’s 126-110 loss early, according to multiple reports.

ESPN added that Haliburton’s status for Game 4 remains in “serious question,” too.

“He was sore at halftime,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle told reporters Thursday, per ESPN. “He was getting work done for the entirety of halftime. He came out, gave it a shot and all the effort that he could. I haven’t talked about it directly to him, so I can’t read minds, but it wasn’t going well. The trainers determined he had to be brought to the back to be worked on, and then he was ruled out.”

Haliburton struggled in Game 2 and managed just 10 points before exiting in the third quarter, and that was followed by a questionable designation on the next injury report. 

But it’s not a new injury for Haliburton this season.

It dates back to a Jan. 8 game against the Celtics, according to ESPN, a night when Haliburton drove toward the left block against Celtics defender Derrick White and his foot continued sliding after he tried to stop. 

A pair of Pacers teammates carried him off the court, and Haliburton ended up missing the next 10 games.

That was the regular season, though.

That was a different scenario than a 2-0 deficit against the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed.

The Pacers won’t have much time to adjust without Haliburton and instead need to figure everything out on the fly, figuring out ways to replicate the 18.7 points and 8.2 assists per game that he has averaged in the postseason.

In Game 1, he collected 25 points and 10 rebounds and was one costly turnover away from helping the Pacers potentially pull an upset to start the conference final — and it instead turned into a devastating overtime loss.

So without Haliburton in the lineup, the Pacers rely on Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner and others to avoid a third straight loss against the Celtics and remain undefeated at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in the playoffs.