Tyrese Haliburton is dealing with a calf strain and had an MRI yesterday to determine the severity of the injury. While it has not been reported what grade the strain is yet, Rick Carlisle did provide an update on the Pacers offensive engine’s status on 107.5 The Fan during his usual weekly radio interview.
#Pacers HC Rick Carlisle says on @MorningShow1075 that Tyrese Haliburton (calf) will be "carefully evaluated." Carlisle added that Haliburton will likely be questionable on the injury report and a game-time decision for tomorrow's Game 6. https://t.co/2VhDwlkt0J
— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) June 18, 2025
As Haliburton is “carefully evaluated,” the Pacers will have to weigh the risks of making the injury far worse and the elusive chance of winning an NBA championship while needing just two more wins.
"Once the Pacers and Haliburton get the results back on this MRI, on that calf strain, they're going to be able to identify the severity and then huddle and map out exactly what the plan will be going into Game 6."@malika_andrews and @ShamsCharania discuss Tyrese Haliburton's… pic.twitter.com/XANI9ehLog
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 17, 2025
It’s a tough call when you know how badly Haliburton wants to be out there with his teammates and give it his all out on the floor in the biggest games of his career but he was clearly hampered in the last game, unable to contribute anywhere close to the level needed, and playing on a calf injury can lead to injuries that are much worse than a strain (Kevin Durant in the 2019 NBA Finals, Damian Lillard in the first round against the Pacers this year).
If he’s severely limited like the last game, the Pacers would be better off in both the short and long term if their star was held out. Let Andrew Nembhard and TJ McConnell try and fill that void like they did against the Boston Celtics in the conference finals last season. As much as it sucks that both of these awesome two playoff runs may end with Haliburton injuries, there are no good, easy answers here. Haliburton isn’t going to be able to contribute to a win if he looks like he did in Game 5 and the medical staff would need to be very certain about any risk for a more significant injury happening from playing on the calf strain to give him clearance to play.
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