An already tall task just got a little taller for the Indiana Pacers.
With his team’s season on the line down 3-0 to the top-seeded Boston Celtics, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle confirmed that star point guard Tyrese Haliburton will remain out for Game 4 on Monday.
Haliburton left Game 2 in the third quarter with a left hamstring injury and did not return. He finished with 10 points in 28 minutes but had just two points after halftime.
Carlisle said the hamstring injury was the same one Haliburton suffered during a Jan. 8 regular-season win over the Celtics. He missed 10 of the following 11 games. Video from Game 2 showed him wincing in pain after stumbling while defending Jayson Tatum.
In 15 playoff games, the 24-year-old has averaged 18.7 points, 8.2 assists and 4.8 rebounds.
On the Celtics side of things, the team announced that both Jrue Holiday and Luke Kornet will be available for Monday’s Game 4. Holiday was questionable with an illness, while Kornet missed Game 3 with a wrist injury.
The Celtics announced earlier Monday that despite earlier optimism that he’d be able to return, big man Kristaps Porzingis will remain out for Game 4
Porzingis, 28, has missed the team’s last nine games with a right soleus (calf) strain after suffering an injury in Game 4 of the first-round series against the Miami Heat.
You can watch the Celtics try and complete the sweep of the Pacers live on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ starting at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. ET.
