BOSTON — The Pacers suffered a crucial injury in Game 2 of their matchup against the Celtics on Thursday night as Tyrese Haliburton missed the final 16 minutes of the game with a leg injury. The Pacers deemed the ailment left leg soreness and announced he would not return to the game early in the fourth quarter.
Haliburton is the lone All-Star on the Pacers roster and nearly led his team to an upset win over the Celtics in Game 1. The point guard posted 10 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds over 28 minutes in Game 2 before exiting the game with 3:44 remaining in the third quarter.
The Celtics led by just nine points when he exited the game and proceeded to create significant separation in the game facing the undermanned Pacers in the fourth quarter, leading by double digits for the final 16 minutes of the contest.
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The Celtics have benefitted considerably from injuries throughout their run to the East Finals with Jimmy Butler (knee) sidelined in Round 1 and Donovan Mitchell (calf) missing multiple games in Round 2. Haliburton has dealt with multiple injury issues during the second half of the regular season but had not missed a playoff game entering Game 2 of the East Finals.
Without Haliburton available, Rick Carlisle rested the majority of his starters for the fourth quarter, waiving the white flag early to Boston.
The Celtics and Pacers will face off in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday night so there will be limited recovery time for Haliburton before the pivotal matchup in Indiana.
