Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton a 'Game-Time Decision for Game 6', Says Rick Carlisle

The Indiana Pacers are preparing for the possibility of not having Tyrese Haliburton available to play in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, coach Rick Carlisle said in a radio interview on Wednesday morning.

Haliburton has been dealing with a lower right leg injury throughout the series and it worsened during Monday's Game 5 loss in Indianapolis. Haliburton played through it for most of his 34 minutes, but failed to make a field goal in the game and Indiana lost to Oklahoma City 120-109 — falling behind 3-2 in the title series.

Now facing a win-or-else scenario, there is a chance Haliburton does not play in Game 6 on Thursday.

"He is going to be carefully evaluated over the next 36 hours and will likely be listed as questionable on the injury report and probably will be a game-time decision for Game 6," Carlisle said on Indianapolis radio station 107.5 The Fan.

Haliburton, part of the team that won Olympic gold in Paris for USA Basketball last year, was undergoing evaluation Tuesday to determine the extent of the injury. Part of that evaluation was an MRI exam, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because neither Haliburton nor the team revealed that publicly. ESPN first reported that an MRI was scheduled.

After Game 5, Carlisle did not specifically say that the MRI would be part of the team’s next moves in figuring out how best to proceed with Haliburton, though made clear that the Eastern Conference champions would be taking a close look at the injury. Given that it is evidently a muscular injury, an MRI is part of the typical evaluation process.

[Related: One Win Away! OKC on Verge of NBA Finals Title; Can The Pacers Respond? ]

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