Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton will play within the staff’s In-Season Event quarterfinal in opposition to the Boston Celtics on Monday, head coach Rick Carlisle informed reporters. Haliburton missed the Pacers’ win over the Miami Warmth on Dec. 2 with a bruised knee and can be battling an higher respiratory an infection.
If Monday’s contest was a traditional common season sport, it appears unlikely that Haliburton would play, however contemplating the stakes of the IST, it is smart that he is giving it a go. That is excellent news for the Pacers, who had been destroyed by 51 factors when Haliburton was sidelined for his or her first assembly with the Celtics on Nov. 1.
After making his first All-Star look final season, Haliburton has been unstoppable thus far on this marketing campaign. He is averaging 27.0 factors and 11.8 assists per sport on 51.9/44.7/88.0 taking pictures splits. Each single a type of numbers is a career-high, and he is main the league in assists.
Early on, he joined Tiny Archibald, Oscar Robertson and James Harden as the one gamers in league historical past to file at the very least 375 factors and 175 assists by way of the primary 15 video games of a season. And in November he joined Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the one gamers ever to common at the very least 25 factors and 10 assists for a whole month whereas taking pictures 50% from the sector and 40% from 3-point land.
With Haliburton main the way in which, the Pacers boast a surprising 123.8 offensive ranking, which is on observe to be essentially the most environment friendly offense of all-time. Whereas they do not play a lot protection on the opposite finish, their outrageous offense has them off to a 10-8 begin, which is nice for sixth place within the Japanese Convention and has them in line to make the playoffs for the primary time since 2020.
Earlier than they begin trying too far forward, nevertheless, they’ve the inaugural NBA Cup to chase this week. Beating the league-leading Celtics can be powerful, however they’re at house and able to outscoring anybody. If they will win that sport, then it is off to Las Vegas for the semifinals, the place something can occur.
