Tyrese Haliburton will travel with Indiana Pacers for six-game road trip despite being out with hamstring injury
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Pacers star point guard Tyrese Haliburton is out for the next few weeks and will be re-evaluated after the Pacers current road trip due to a Grade 1 hamstring strain. But Indiana's young leader is still going to travel with his team for the entire six-game road trip instead of remaining back in Indianapolis for the rehab process.
Friday night, the Pacers play in Atlanta against the Hawks. Then, they go on a week-long West-coast swing that begins in Denver on Sunday and ends in Phoenix on January 21. They have two back-to-backs in that span.
It's a tough schedule, and Haliburton will miss all of the on-court action. But he will be with his team for all of it, which should at least provide an off-court boost.
"I believe he's traveling. Which speaks to the fact that this is a Grade 1 [strain] and there are things that he can do being with our training staff full time on the road that couldn't be done here (in Indianapolis) unless we left one of our therapists here, and we've got a full team," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said on Wednesday before his team battled the Washington Wizards. "It's the best scenario really to have him travel and have him work on his body, on his situation."
Haliburton can get treatment on his left hamstring while with the team, so this situation best allows the star guard to heal while also optimizing the team's resources. The Pacers posted a Tweet on Thursday with pictures of their travels to Atlanta, and Haliburton was in one of the photos, indicating that he is with the team.
"The news that we got on Tyrese yesterday was the best possible news we could have gotten given what everybody saw and how his legs contorted," Carlisle said of Haliburton's injury outlook. The Pacers star fell to the court awkwardly on Monday when Indiana hosted the Boston Celtics.
Carlisle went to Haliburton's MRI along with one of the point guard's agents. It is a relief for the franchise that the All-Star guard, who is comfortably leading the Eastern Conference in All-Star fan votes among guards, could be out for less than a month.
Haliburton, who loves to play and compete, was thrilled that the injury wasn't worse. "He's doing well. The news yesterday (Tuesday) was very uplifting for him," Carlisle shared.
Haliburton is averaging 23.6 points and 12.5 assists per game this season. The Pacers are 2-2 without him available this season, including a win on Wednesday, and are hopeful that they can tread water in his absence. They will find out on their upcoming road trip, and Haliburton will be along to see it all.
- Sources: Tyrese Haliburton will be re-evaluated after Indiana Pacers road trip with Grade 1 hamstring strain. CLICK HERE.
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- Indiana Pacers win first game in Tyrese Haliburton's absence with a good defensive effort against Washington Wizards. CLICK HERE.
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