Is Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton playing in Game 1 vs. Knicks? Latest injury update

Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Without a doubt, the Pacers wouldn’t have a game to play at this point of the year without the excellent play this season of Haliburton. But Haliburton is listed as questionable at the time of this writing for Game 1 of the Knicks series because of low back spasms, according to the NBA’s official injury report for Monday’s games. It is worth mentioning, though, that Haliburton also had to deal with the same back issue in the first round versus the Milwaukee Bucks and managed to play all six games in that matchup.

During the series against the Bucks, the former Iowa State Cyclones star averaged 16.0 points, 9.3 assists, and 5.8 rebounds per game while shooting only 43.5 percent from the floor and 29.6 percent from behind the arc. Outside of rebounds, all those numbers are down from his regular-season digits, as his back injury perhaps slowed him down. The Knicks are a different animal than the Bucks.

New York can be stingy defensively and is a team that seems to like wearing out its opponents, so expect the Knicks to have a target on the back (no pun intended) of Haliburton, who played well in three games opposite the Knickerbockers back in the regular season. Conversely, Haliburton and the Pacers love pushing the ball and moving the leather around. In the regular season, the Pacers ranked second in adjusted offensive rating (120.1) and second overall in pace (102.1). In the three meetings thus far with the Knicks this season, Haliburton averaged 19.7 points on 51.2 percent shooting from the field, 13.3 assists, and 4.0 rebounds.

In the event that Haliburton gets ruled out for Monday’s showdown against Jalen Brunson and company, the Pacers could turn to TJ McConnell to start at the point guard position, while Ben Sheppard can also expect an uptick in minutes. McConnel has been fantastic in the playoffs thus far for Indiana. He was especially impressive during the Pacers’ series-clinching 120-98 win over the Bucks last Thursday when he poured 20 points on 7/9 shooting with nine assists and four steals in just 23 minutes of action off the bench.

Moreover, the pair of Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner would have heavier loads, particularly on offense, if Haliburton sits out Game 1 of the Knicks series. It would be interesting to see how Siakam and Turner operate on the court without the Pacers’ top facilitator in Haliburton, but either way, they have big roles in the second round.

So, when it comes to the question of if Tyrese Haliburton is playing tonight vs. the Knicks, the answer is that he’s likely to see action, considering that he played through the back injury in the first round.