Tyrese Haliburton has been having a great 2023-24 season for the Indiana Pacers, and he’s about to make his second consecutive All-Star appearance, this time for the Eastern Conference in his home arena. In 36 games, Haliburton has averaged 23.0 points and 12.3 assists while shooting 39.5 percent from three. Unfortunately, the youthful sensation suffered a hamstring injury on January 8 against the Boston Celtics, which has limited his availability recently.
While he did play in Thursday night’s 109-105 loss to the New York Knicks, Haliburton was labelled as questionable for Friday’s game against the Sacramento Kings, the franchise for which he was originally chosen. Fortunately, Haliburton received permission to play prior to tip-off.
The Pacers and Kings met earlier this season at Golden 1 Centre, where Indiana won 126-121. However, Haliburton did not play in this game a few weeks earlier owing to an ongoing hamstring injury.
While Haliburton is likely not fully recovered from his hamstring injury, the Pacers have T.J. McConnell and Andrew Nembhard to back him up. McConnell has been productive in his 12 games sans Haliburton this season, averaging 11.0 points, 7.3 assists, and 2.8 rebounds. Pascal Siakam, whom the Pacers recently acquired from the Toronto Raptors, may also play a more all-around playmaking and facilitating role if Haliburton is limited.
In addition to Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin is now available. However, both Jalen Smith and Myles Turner are out for Friday’s game against the Kings.
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