INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Given the way Indiana guard Tyrese Haliburton was limping on his way out of the postgame news conference after Game 5 of the NBA Finals, it’s safe to assume he’s a fan of the schedule right about now.
Put simply, he could use a couple of days off — at least.
Haliburton has a lower leg injury — nobody’s saying exactly what it is, whether it’s ankle or calf or something else, though he was having an MRI on Tuesday to try to figure things out. It seems to be the sort of injury that if this were a back-to-back situation in December, he’d be missing at least one game.
But these are the finals, this is June, there no back-to-backs in the playoffs and when the league gets to the last series two-day breaks between games aren’t uncommon. Amen to that, the Pacers are probably saying right about now.
“The Finals, the NBA Finals, is one of the great stages in all of sports,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “And so, it shouldn’t happen quickly and abruptly. It should happen at the right pace and the right tempo, and the space in between games does help player health. That’s a very important aspect of it.”