With his team’s season on the brink, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle anticipates that Tyrese Haliburton will be a “game time decision” for Game 6 of the Finals on Thursday night, Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star relays.
Carlisle commented on Haliburton’s status during a Wednesday morning radio interview on 107.5 The Fan.
“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. “Everything is on the table.”
Haliburton did not make a field goal in Indiana’s Game 5 loss to Oklahoma City as the Thunder grabbed a 3-2 lead in the series. Game 6 will be played in Indianapolis. The star guard reportedly underwent an MRI on Tuesday due to a right calf strain.
“We have to prepare for two scenarios: one where he plays and one where he does not,” Carlisle said.
Carlisle said rotation changes could be coming, regardless of Haliburton’s status. Indiana has lost the last two games of the series.
“Everything is on the table,” Carlisle said. “…It’s pretty simple. Tomorrow night our task is to take care of homecourt, which is what they did in Game 5 and get to an ultimate game, which is Game 7. That’s the task in front of us. We have to figure out exactly what tools are in front of us as a team and we have to consider everything. Minute count, throwing that out the window is easy to say, but if you have guys out there that are more fatigued than they should be, that’s not good and against this team, that’s very difficult.”
Center Myles Turner remains defiant that the Pacers can win the next two games, as he told Andscape’s Marc J. Spears. Turner declared “It’s not over” shortly after the Game 5 loss.
“Our fans have been anticipating this for such a long time,” Turner said. “They’ve been antsy. The biggest thing is to show up for Game 6. They’ll be behind us and be as loud as they were here [in Oklahoma City]. For someone in my position, you never know when you can get this opportunity again. This is the youngest, healthiest and most spry I will ever be. For me, I just got to give it all that I’ve got. Back against the wall. Empty the tank.”
