Indiana Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton has been listed as questionable for Game 3 of the team’s Eastern Conference finals matchup against the Boston Celtics on Saturday because of a sore left hamstring.
Haliburton scored 10 points and played just eight minutes in the second half before leaving Indiana’s 126-110 Game 2 loss Thursday because of the sore hamstring. He sat out the entire fourth quarter.
Haliburton also suffered what Pacers coach Rick Carlisle described as a chest injury that occurred during a first-half collision with Boston’s Jaylen Brown.
Meanwhile, the Celtics’ injury report released Friday listed center Kristaps Porzingis (right soleus strain) as out and Luke Kornet (left wrist sprain) as doubtful.
Porzingis — out since suffering the calf injury in Game 4 against the Miami Heat on April 30 — could make his return to these Eastern Conference playoffs as soon as Game 4 on Monday, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Tuesday. The Celtics won’t rush Porzingis back and want to continue to be conservative in his recovery, but sources say he is inching closer to a return.
Haliburton’s injury is a recurrence of a left hamstring strain suffered Jan. 8 against the Celtics when he slipped and fell and had to be helped off the court. The Pacers went 6-4 during that stretch.
“He was sore at halftime,” Carlisle said of Haliburton’s hamstring after Thursday’s game. “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.”
The Celtics will need two more wins to reach their second NBA Finals in three years with the next two games being played in Indianapolis, where the Pacers are a perfect 6-0 this postseason.
ESPN’s Jamal Collier and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: www.espn.com