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While Tyrese Haliburton said he could barely walk in the immediate aftermath of the hamstring injury he suffered during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics, the Indiana Pacers guard had his mind set on playing Game 3.
The organization had other plans.
“I called my agents that morning and said, ‘Hey, I feel good, I’m not going to lie to you guys, I really don’t care what you say, I’m gonna try to play,'” Haliburton said, per Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star.
“There was obviously an organization-wide meeting with our front office, with agents, with everybody. They did what their job is, to protect me from myself and wouldn’t allow me to play Game 3. I understand the long-term implications of the chances of re-hurting my hamstring. I’m just very thankful for this organization from protecting me from myself.”
The injury limited him to 28 minutes in Game 2 and kept him sidelined for Games 3 and 4 as the Celtics finished the sweep.
“It’s been really frustrating,” Haliburton said. “It’s been trash, honestly. You work so hard to get somewhere and something happens that’s out of your control. Obviously that’s frustrating for me. But what I’ve understood more than anything is that usually in the playoffs, the healthier team wins. They’re a hell of a team. Boston’s a great team. But obviously very frustrating for me and how I was playing at the time and how we were playing as a group.”
There is an element of irony in the comments, as Indiana was certainly the healthier team in the first two rounds of the playoffs against the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby and others suffered injuries.
Still, Haliburton’s setback was poorly timed to say the least for the Pacers.
He also revealed it was a different hamstring injury and not just a re-aggravation of the one he suffered on Jan. 8 that forced him to miss 10 games in the regular season and bothered him for the rest of the campaign.
Even with their star player sidelined, the Pacers still led Game 3 by eight points in the final three minutes and Game 4 by eight points in the final six minutes. Yet poor execution down the stretch of both contests opened the door for Boston comebacks, and the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed took full advantage.
Perhaps things would have been different if Haliburton was on the floor, but Indiana also collapsed in the final minute of regulation in Game 1 when he was playing and then lost in overtime.
While the Pacers surpassed expectations by reaching the Eastern Conference Finals, it was also a series that will likely bother them throughout the upcoming offseason because of how winnable three of the four games were even against a strong Boston side.
It could also be a motivating factor for next season when Haliburton is ideally healthy again and ready to lead another deep playoff run.
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