Tyrese Haliburton says he hopes to return from injury 'to start February' for the Indiana Pacers
Tyrese Haliburton went down with a knee and elbow injury for the Indiana Pacers five games ago. In the third quarter against the New York Knicks, he fell to the floor and was bumped into by multiple other players. He exited the game and left the arena on crutches.
He hasn't played since, and the Pacers are on a five-game losing streak with Haliburton sidelined. The Pacers announced last Friday that Haliburton would be re-evaluated in two weeks with a left knee bone contusion and left elbow sprain.
For the first time since the injury, Haliburton discussed his recovery process and potential return timeline. In an appearance on The Old Man and The Three podcast, hosted by former NBA player JJ Redick as well as Tommy Alter, Haliburton was asked for an injury update.
"I hurt my elbow, I hurt my knee. Probably doing too much, that's why that happened. It usually happens that way," the Pacers guard said. "Re-evaluated at the end of the month. Starting to get stronger every day, feeling better every day. Got my second opinion. So things are going well."
Then, he provided a timeline for a potential return to action. "Hopefully at the end of the month, hopefully in the next 11-12 days, I feel better and can get back to start February. That's the goal," Haliburton said. Indiana has a three-game homestand in early February (Lakers on February 2, Kings on February 3, Cavaliers on February 5), so it's possible Haliburton could return during that stretch if his timeline prediction is correct.
Redick then asked Haliburton about his current conditioning level. "I left the Knicks game in crutches. I was in crutches for like two days. After we found out through the MRI that structurally nothing was wrong with my knee, I was encouraged to try to not use the crutches as fast as possible. So I did that, haven't used crutches since then," Haiburton said. The young guard could be seen walking around without crutches two days later when Indiana hosted Atlanta.
"I'm starting to walk with full comfort in my leg. So running starting now, actually started today. We're going to rev up moving forward. Legs feel fine, it's just more about getting my elbow right," Haliburton added. That note makes it seem like the elbow injury is more concerning than the knee injury. You can watch the full interview with Haliburton starting at the 51:13 mark in the video below. Redick interviews Pacers rookie Bennedict Mathurin and talks about the Pacers for the first 51 minutes of the podcast.
The Pacers are 23-23 this season but are 22-18 when Haliburton plays. He is averaging 20.2 points and 10.2 assists per game. The blue and gold will hope he can return as soon as possible.
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