Play hurt or sit out? Tyrese Haliburton can't win

Tyrese Haliburton was badly hampered by a calf strain suffered in Indiana’s Game 5 loss to Oklahoma City. While he fought through it as best he could, he clearly was not the same player. It led to questions by some as to whether he should have even been on the court. Regardless of that question (because it’s silly), the question now is whether Haliburton will play tonight, in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

He is still listed as day-to-day on the injury report, but more detailed news came in Rick Carlisle calling in to 1075 The Fan. Rick said that he would be “carefully evaluated,” “would likely be listed as questionable,” and that “it will probably be a game-time decision for game six.”

There's not a ton of info yet, unfortunately. The Pacers have enough reason to keep details as vague as possible for as long as possible if they can, so it’s going to be hard to judge his condition even as more information comes out. Luckily there are people on Twitter with “MD” in their names who can diagnose sports injuries somehow after watching league pass on their phone. They’ll tell us what to think.

They’re always right.

The biggest game of Tyrese’s life is kind of out of his hands

If they win, this is only the biggest game of Tyrese’s life for three days. And sure, he might have additional appearances in the Finals throughout his career, but this is the one that is happening right now. Thinking about the future, the past, anything other than the moment is just a distraction in times like these.

So this has to be agony for Tyrese. He even received blowback for trying to play through the injury. You know, demonstrating that toughness people always say doesn’t exist in the game anymore. (Tyrese has plenty of off-ball value, even in a limited state. Part of what got Indiana to the NBA Finals was their ability to play four-on-four ball when Tyrese pulled someone away from the action with his gravity.)

This leaves the dude having taken a number-four seed in the Eastern Conference all the way to the Finals, to be on-serve with the most dominant team of the entire season. This is basically everything he’s ever worked for. And he might not get to do it. Or might get clowned anyway for doing it and not doing it well.

Just kind of an awful situation for everybody, really. Unless you’re one of those miserable people who root for injuries. I’m glad you’re miserable. But I’m here if you want to talk.