Should The Indiana Pacers Give Tyrese Haliburton The Green Light To Play In Game 6?

Tyrese Haliburton is aware of the stakes. He’s not blind to the pressure mounting against him and the Indiana Pacers as they face elimination in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

At the same time, one thing you can always count on Haliburton being is calculated. As one of the wisest young players in basketball, he’s dialed into the pros and cons of pushing his body to the limit – both from an individual and organizational standpoint.

Haliburton’s status for Thursday’s Game 6 remains up in the air while he nurses a right calf strain that he suffered in the second quarter of Game 5, which Indiana lost multiple late-game surges.

The injury caused him to be ineffective for the remainder of the game, only taking six total shots and not attacking downhill as frequently. He posted his sixth-lowest usage rate of the entire season in Game 5, per Cleaning The Glass. In fact, three of his seven worst games in terms of usage have now come against Oklahoma City’s swarming defense.

During Wednesday’s media session, Indiana’s star point guard took questions about his playing status and level of discomfort in the calf.

“Nothing more than you’ve already seen,” Haliburton said Wednesday. “Practiced today and did what I could. I know Coach (Carlisle) told you guys what the process would be tomorrow for me to play. Yeah, we’ll just take it from there.”

To Haliburton’s point, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle was careful with his words regarding the injury. He maintained the team wouldn’t make any firm decisions until Thursday afternoon or evening, which leaves Haliburton questionable for Game 6.

The Pacers had a routine 30-minute walkthrough Wednesday morning, and Haliburton was on the floor in practice gear. For those unfamiliar with walkthroughs, it’s an NBA term for a light practice where the coaching staff guides players through offensive and defensive principles they will apply in the next game, including schemes and scouting reports. Those light practices often end with a shootaround, which he participated in:

Beyond just the injury, OKC’s defense has certainly played a role in diminishing Haliburton’s effectiveness.

He entered the Finals averaging 18.8 points on 58.2% true shooting, with only a 7.0% turnover ratio. During this series against OKC, however, his scoring production has dipped to 15.0 points on 55.9% true shooting, with a 16.3% turnover ratio.

Would Haliburton be sidelined if this was January, in the dog days of a regular season grind, instead of June when a championship is within grasp?

“Yeah, probably,” he admitted. “That would probably be the case. But we’re not in the regular season, so it is what it is.”

Some injuries are deemed acceptable to ignore – or brush aside – for a short period of time. Bruised thumbs and mild ankle sprains can be managed in the heat of a playoff series. If the player can push through the pain and remain a threat on the floor, those smaller scale injuries can heal during the offseason without long-term ramifications.

Calf strains, along with hamstring strains, are cut from a different cloth. You don’t mess with those. And there’s a reason (most) franchises err on the side of caution any time their players are diagnosed with those.

Because we’ve often seen calf strains lead to more serious concerns (such as Achilles injuries) if they aren’t treated and rested properly, it’s always a risky situation for players.

Haliburton didn’t sound too worried about being pressured to play, though, or the idea that Indiana would put him in a tough predicament. He knows it will be a joint decision that wouldn’t be made without weighing risk versus reward, while also understanding the short and long-term impact of any further damage.

“I have a lot of trust in our medical staff and a lot of trust in our organization to make the right decision,” he said. “There’s been many situations over the course of my career where they’ve trusted me and my body.”

It makes sense why Haliburton wants to lay his body on the line. The NBA Finals represent a stage every player dreams of reaching. Any star will tell you the most gut-wrenching feeling is walking out of a playoff series, in a loss, while believing there was still more to give. Whether that’s from an effort or execution standpoint, no player wants to leave points on the table in the NBA Finals. That’s what leads to a miserable summer of regret.

The Pacers are well-versed in history, too. They understand returning to the Finals with this core is not guaranteed.

Sure, they might have a young nucleus. Most of Indiana’s rotation is trending upward in player development and continues improving on the margins. And it’s true, the current state of the Eastern Conference suggests Indiana should be – at minimum – a conference finals candidate next season and beyond.

But if there’s one thing certain in the NBA, it’s that nothing is certain.

As a franchise, Indiana had to wait 25 years (and cycle through many different iterations of the roster) between Finals appearances. With the influx of talent in today’s league and the unpredictable nature of this coming offseason, you can’t simply pencil in the Pacers as the East favorites for next year.

Any high-level competitor would opt to play through pain and discomfort if they were two wins from a title.

But Haliburton needs to actually walk out of there. That’s priority number one. It would be devastating for both him and the Pacers franchise if he suffered a long-term injury because he pushed it too hard on a strained calf. If his status for next season is in jeopardy whatsoever, especially given how wide open Indiana’s window currently is, he needs to be saved from himself.

“I have to understand the risks and ask the right questions,” Haliburton said. “But I’m a competitor. I want to play. I’m going to do everything in my power to play.”

Carlisle said Indiana will have a prep session Thursday afternoon, where Haliburton and the medical staff “will do some testing” to determine his playing status for Game 6.

“If he doesn’t play, then we have a plan if we’re without him.”