Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton Likely Game-Time Decision, Rick Carlisle Says

The Indiana Pacers cannot lose again. If they do that so much as once, the Oklahoma City Thunder will be NBA champions. That much we know.

What we don’t know is if Pacers star point guard Tyrese Haliburton will play in the Pacers’ next opportunity — or more specifically, Game 6 Thursday night in Indianapolis. Indiana coach Rick Carlisle says Haliburton is a game-time call with a right calf injury.

“He is going to be carefully evaluated over the next 36 hours and will likely be listed as questionable on the injury report and probably will be a game-time decision for Game 6,” Carlisle said on 107.5 The Fan, via Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “Everything is on the table.”

The Pacers trail the series by a 3-2 count. A Game 7 would be Sunday at OKC if the Pacers can get it that far. It goes without saying that having Haliburton on the court would help toward that end.

He finished with just four points and didn’t make a field goal in Game 5. Nevertheless, he keeps the ball moving and is an emotional leader, even on one good leg.

“We have to prepare for two scenarios: one where he plays and one where he does not,” Carlisle said.

Indiana has lost two straight for the first time in the postseason and the first time overall since March. So even if Haliburton plays, rotation changes could be on the way.

“Everything is on the table,” Carlisle said. “… It’s pretty simple. Tomorrow night our task is to take care of homecourt, which is what they did in Game 5 and get to an ultimate game, which is Game 7. That’s the task in front of us.

“We have to figure out exactly what tools are in front of us as a team and we have to consider everything. Minute count, throwing that out the window is easy to say, but if you have guys out there that are more fatigued than they should be, that’s not good and against this team, that’s very difficult.”