Tyrese Haliburton motivated to return to national television cameras

The earth shook in Indiana on January 8 during the reception of Boston, when Tyrese Haliburton collapsed on the floor, victim of a slip, synonymous with strained hamstrings. The leader of the Pacers had a big scare and after a failed recovery against the Blazers, for the first of Pascal Siakam, he should resume for good this Tuesday.

After fully taking part in training on Monday, all the lights would be green to allow him to return this evening. Coincidentally, it will be against Boston again, but in Massachusetts this time.

“The plan is to play this Tuesday,” he confided yesterday. “I'm going to see how I feel in the morning when I wake up. This will dictate the answer. But I feel good, ready to go. The medical team did a good job getting me ready to come back. I hope I’m ready.”

The Pacers limited the damage without him

His coach Rick Carlisle confirmed the good news and is delighted to be able to benefit from his main weapon, even if the rest of the team resisted very well in his absence, winning six of their ten matches. Because his return simply opens up new perspectives.

“He trained with a group of guys. Today was more of a light workout for the guys who played. We did a twenty minute training session with some of the less active players. He did well. If everything goes well and he feels good this Tuesday, then it's possible.”confided the Indiana coach before returning to the importance of his leader in his system. “The other players did a good job. They have improved. They learned. They went through different trials. From injuries to bigger responsibilities, it's all been there. They have always done very well. But Tyrese is one of those players that, when he's on the field, things just work better by nature. “That’s another reason why his return is important.”

100% back and over-motivated

Tyrese Haliburton also spoke of his first return on January 19 for Pascal Siakam's first match in his new colors to face Portland. The test was simply inconclusive, and the player finished the match limping. So it took him ten more days to recover.

“Throughout the match, I felt pain and discomfort. As far as I knew, I couldn't make the injury worse by playing, so I continued playing. My body didn't react the way I wanted it to. I was really sore after the game, so I had to go back to square one and figure out what we could do better.”

Ten days later, Tyrese Haliburton has ants in his legs and is dying to get back on the floors, especially to find Boston in this context. Tonight's meeting is in fact the only one for the Pacers scheduled on national television. If we except the final of the NBA tournament…

“I'm happy to be on television, and that's the case every time we're on national television. I'm sure Boston doesn't care. They're on TNT every night. But I think that's what's nice for us, is that people will watch our team more. Like Roy Hibbert said, people don't watch us play, so I think it'll be cool for us to go national. Everything comes with victory. I am sure that next year we will have many more matches on national channels, simply because of what we produce on the field.

How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.