Tyrese Haliburton Injury Status for Pacers vs Bucks

Will two-time All-Star Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton be available in a critical tilt against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night?

The Pacers have yet to submit their injury report for the day, but Haliburton sat out Monday's surprising 121-103 blowout defeat to the Chicago Bulls with a right hip flexor strain.

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Sixth Man of the Year contender Bennedict Mathurin, in the midst of a breakout offensive season, earned a starting gig in Haliburton's stead. Mathurin scored just five points on 2-of-9 shooting from the fieldd and 1-of-1 shooting from the charity stripe. He dished out three dimes (against two turnovers) and pulled down a pair of boards.

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The game got out of hand pretty quickly by the second half, and head coach Rick Carlisle yanked his starters quickly. None played more than forwards Aaron Nesmith and Pascal Siakam's 24 minutes.

Bulls point guard Tre Jones would have theoretically been Haliburton's cover. He scored a scant eight points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field, passed for eight assists, grabbed three rebounds and blocked a shot in 33:40, while securing a +25 plus-minus during his time on the hardwood.

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After an unsteady season start, Haliburton has turned it on lately for the Pacers. Haliburton has sat out for the past three contests with the hip flexor ailment, but before that had logged double-doubles across his last six available contests. In those bouts, he averaged an impressive 24.2 points on .614/.591/1.000 shooting splits, 12.5 assists, 2.8 steals, and 2.5 rebounds a night.

For the season, the 6-foot-5 Iowa State product is averaging 18.5 points while slashing .468/.390/.861, 8.9 assists, and 3.5 rebounds in 59 healthy games. He's making a late-season push for his second straight All-NBA team, as the offensive fulcrum of the 35-28 Pacers.

Indiana is just one game behind the 36-27 Bucks, the East's No. 4 seed, making Tuesday's clash a pivotal jockeying battle for homecourt advantage in the playoffs. The 36-29 Detroit Pistons, meanwhile, are very much in that hunt, too.

The action tips off at 6:30 p.m. CT, and will be broadcast on TNT and TruTV. It will also be livestreamed on Max.

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