OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Indiana guard Tyrese Haliburton grabbed at his lower right leg after an awkward fall in the first quarter, briefly leaving Game 5 of the NBA Finals for treatment.
He kept playing. He clearly wasn’t right.
To his credit, Haliburton gutted his way through 34 minutes — largely playing the role of a facilitating decoy in the second half, hardly ever looking to shoot. He finished with four points, all from the foul line, and the Pacers lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-109 on Monday night to fall behind 3-2 in the series.
“If I can walk, then I want to play,” Haliburton said.
Haliburton was scoreless at halftime for the first time in 36 career playoff games. He scored his first points on a pair of free throws with 7:07 left in the third quarter.