Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton adamant about playing through injury
The Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder are five games into the NBA Finals, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander taking a 3-2 series lead.
Although the Pacers have exceeded expectations through the first five games, the team could be in danger of losing this series with star guard Tyrese Haliburton dealing with a calf injury, which limited his play in Game 5.
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Even though the calf injury was clearly bothering Haliburton in Game 5, the Pacers star is adamant about continuing to play through the injury moving forward because of the opportunity to play in the NBA Finals via ESPN.
“It’s the Finals,” Haliburton said. “I’ve worked my whole life to be here and I want to be out there to compete, help my teammates any way I can.
“I was not great tonight by any means, but it’s not really a thought of mine to not play here. If I can walk, then I want to play.”
With two star players suffering Achilles tears during these NBA playoffs, Damian Lillard and Jayson Tatum, there’s an obvious concern that Haliburton’s injury could end up getting severe if he continues to push it in the final two games of the series, if it gets that far.
The series will now shift back to Indiana for Game 6, with the season on the line for the Pacers. If Haliburton can stay alive, Game 7 will be played in Oklahoma City on June 22.
