Pacers battle through Haliburton injury to sink Celtics

AFP | Los Angeles                                                    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Indiana Pacers overcame a scary injury to star point guard Tyrese Haliburton before beating the in-form Boston Celtics 133-131 on Monday in the NBA.

Haliburton, one of the brightest stars in the league, was carried off the court by teammates after a painful tumble near the end of the second quarter at Indiana’s Gainbridge Fieldhouse Arena.

The 23-year-old grimaced after inadvertently doing the splits as he attempted to change direction while driving towards the basket.

The Pacers later said Haliburton, who did not return to the game, had suffered a left hamstring strain.

With Haliburton out of action, Bennedict Mathurin stepped up with 26 points off the bench to lead the second-half fightback after Indiana trailed 68-59 at the break.

A frantic finale looked to have tilted Boston’s way after the Pacers were adjudged to have fouled Jaylen Brown in the closing seconds with the score locked at 131-131.

But Indiana challenged the call and the foul was overturned to leave the score level and give the Pacers one last chance to snatch the win.

Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis then fouled Mathurin with one second on the clock and the Pacers shooting guard promptly sank two free throws to secure the victory.

“We lost the best player on the team, so my role was to step up and help the team win the game,” Mathurin said afterwards.

“Ty (Haliburton) was down but it felt like the team pretty much knew what to do. Everyone had to step up. If your name gets called, be ready to play,” the Canadian added.

“We have a lot of depth on this team. We have a lot of players who can play and perform and have an impact on the game. It was a great win for us.”