Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton 'Expected' to Play, Says NBA Insider

The Indiana Pacers are on the brink of elimination. Game 6 is on Thursday, and the Pacers have a chance to extend their season and force a Game 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Pacers entered Game 6 with the status of their star guard Tyrese Haliburton in question. However, hours before the match, it appears that Haliburton is expected to play.

ESPN’s Shams Charanis shared how Haliburton is expected to suit up.

“He's fully intending to be out there tonight. He's going to gut it out.”

"He's fully intending to be out there tonight. He's going to gut it out."@ShamsCharania gives an update on Tyrese Haliburton ahead of Game 6 of the NBA Finals ✍️ (via @PatMcAfeeShow) pic.twitter.com/QOz8Zfl4UI
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 19, 2025

The Pacers are down 3-2 with Game 6 in front of their home crowd.

The 25-year-old star guard played through a severe calf injury on Monday during Game 5. He came out of the game and went to the locker room. Haliburton ended up coming back in the game; however, he played his worst game of the postseason by far.

In that outing, Haliburton etched his name into the wrong kind of history, becoming the first player in NBA Finals history to log over 30 minutes with zero made field goals, zero steals, zero blocks, and at least three turnovers and three fouls.

By several measures, it ranks among the most underwhelming individual performances the Finals stage has ever witnessed.

Nonetheless, the shift now focuses on Game 6, which is a do-or-die game for Indiana. As they’ve been all playoffs and all series long, they enter this game as the underdogs.

According to ESPN Bet, the Pacers are heavy home udnergdow with a +6.5 spread. The money line is also in favor of Oklahoma City at -240, compared to the Pacers, who are a +200.

A lot is at stake for the Pacers and the Thunder. Indiana is a whole different team when Haliburton is at his best. When he is not at his best, the Pacers appear to be a mediocre team, and that has been the case in all three losses of this series.

The Pacers have a chance to force a Game 7, and if they were to do so, it’d be the first NBA Finals Game 7 in nine years.

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For more news and notes on the Indiana Pacers, visit Indiana Pacers on SI.