Pacers beat Celtics, lose Tyrese Haliburton for weeks not months

The Pacers rallied without their star guard to put up an exciting win over the C's.

One of the most exciting games of the season was muted by the uncertainty of Tyrese Haliburton’s status after the Pacers All-Star was carried off the floor in the second quarter of the Pacers 133-131 win over the Celtics.

The win was sweet, no doubt. Benn Mathurin stepped up as the lead dog with 26 points, leading a reserve unit that scored 75 points in the game. A wild finish that saw a peculiar foul overturn, which had Jaylen Brown calling for an investigation after, lead to another foul called on Mathurin who made two free throws with 0.6 seconds left which would be the difference. The NBA’s last two-minute report affirmed the non-call on Brown, but did feel the Porzingis foul on Mathurin was an error.

So nice to be on the favorable end of a last-two minute report in a big game. Real unfamiliar territory for the Pacers. Also, unfamiliar for Celtics players and fans based on their reaction. No matter what the report says, the L will remain. Sorry.

The Pacers took advantage of Jayson Tatum missing the game to rest his ankle while also surviving a 40-point night from Brown. There were plenty of players who stepped up in Haliburton’s absence. TJ McConnell was at his best and Aaron Nesmith seemed to relish every play he was able to make against his favorite team.

In a radio interview on Tuesday morning, Rick Carlisle indicated that the team was able to see Haliburton at the half, with ice on his hammy while being able to walk on his own. Strong indications that the season wouldn’t be lost by an Oladipo-type tragic injury, despite the brutal visual of James Johnson and Buddy Hield carrying their teammate off the floor.

Again, big win! But any big picture take away for the Pacers revolves around the status Haliburton. On Tuesday morning an MRI revealed a Grade 1 hamstring strain which was good news. After two weeks, Hali will be reevaluated for when he may return. The Pacers will play eight games in that time if you count the Denver home game on Jan. 23. The middle six games will be on the road which is never easy as we all found out after the IST run. Hopefully, the Pacers are in better shape to handle playing without Haliburton this season.

Las year around this time, a sore knee knocked out Haliburton for 12 games. The Pacers won one of those 12 and the season went off the rails into full development mode. Haliburton would play just 56 games, missing 13 of the final 15 games, as well.

Bruce Brown and Obi Toppin have fortified the rotation which should help. Also, Myles Turner missed two of those initial 12 games, as did Andrew Nembhard. The Pacers improved depth also includes the development of young players like Nembhard, Isaiah Jackson, Jalen Smith and most notably of late, Mathurin.

I’m not saying the Pacers are a playoff team without Haliburton, but if he is out two to three weeks, they should be able to coble together enough wins to remain around .500 during that time. The Pacers are currently entangled with five teams for spots 4 thru 8 in the East, all starting Tuesday with 21-15 records. Even as the schedule strengthens, there are opportunities the Pacers have to take advantage of to stay on the pace, starting with the Wizards visiting the Fieldhouse on Wednesday night.

Game Details

Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN

When: Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, 7:00 p.m. ET

TV: Bally Sports

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan

Projected Starters

Pacers: Andrew Nembhard, Bruce Brown, Aaron Nesmith, Jalen Smith, Myles Turner

Wizards: Tyus Jones, Jordan Poole, Deni Avdija, Kyle Kuzma, Daniel Gafford

Injuries

Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton (left hamstring) - out

Wizards: None/TBD