INDIANAPOLIS — It’s the existential question: Play and take the risk, or play the long game even in the face of Finals elimination?
That’s what is facing Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton on the eve of Game 6 of the NBA Finals with his right calf strain, which he confirmed in his media session Wednesday. He wasn’t much help in the second half of Game 5, unable to contribute a field goal after injuring his calf on a turnover.
He went through the Pacers walkthrough, but coach Rick Carlisle said there wasn’t any real running involved. Sounds like he’ll be listed as a game-time decision.
“It’s a topic that people want to hear about and know about. There’s going to be a lot of questions about it,” Carlisle said. “We will not really know for sure until late tomorrow afternoon or early evening.”
Haliburton said “the plan” is for him to play, even though if this were a regular-season game he would be sitting.
“I want to be out there,” Haliburton said.
Kevin Durant’s Achilles popped in the 2019 Finals, two quarters into playing for the first time in a month for Golden State following a calf strain.
There is risk of a player missing a significant chunk of his prime, but the mindset of an athlete is to push even harder at this level. So sometimes, being smart goes out the window.
“I think it depends on who you ask,” Haliburton said. “You’re asking me. I think I have to be as smart as I want to be. Have to understand the risks, ask the right questions.
“I’m a competitor. I want to play. I’m going to do everything in my power to play. That’s just what it is.”
Haliburton missed time during the Pacers’ playoff run last year, the final two games of their conference finals loss to the Boston Celtics, and was limited in last summer’s Olympic Games with an injured hamstring. That seemed to hinder his start to the season in the first 25 games before he rebounded and the Pacers made their run to the Finals.
If he plays and is effective, perhaps the Pacers can extend the series and send it to a seventh game back in Oklahoma City. If he doesn’t, it’s hard to foresee a path for the Pacers to continue this improbable run.
“I practiced today, did what I could,” Haliburton said. “I know Coach told you guys what the process will be tomorrow for me to play. Yeah, we’re just taking it from there.”
He listed the treatments he’s received in the last two days, the extra days the Finals schedule provides, giving him a better chance at playing in Game 6. Massages, needles, hyperbaric chambers.
For the series, Haliburton is averaging 15 points, 7.2 assists and 6.2 rebounds on 45 percent shooting. If the Pacers’ medical staff has to save him from himself, even in this situation, it feels like something he will consider in real time.
“Yeah, I have a lot of trust in our medical staff. I have a lot of trust in our organization to make the right decision,” Haliburton said. “I think there’s been many situations through the course of my career where they’ve trusted me on my body.
“They trust me to make the right decision on my body when the power is in my hands. I’m trying to try my best to do that.”
