After missing games on Saturday and Monday due to a left knee bruise, Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton sat out on Thursday as a result of a right ankle sprain he suffered on Wednesday in practice. According to Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star, head coach Rick Carlisle expects that injury to keep Haliburton on the shelf for at least two more games, if not longer.
“Tyrese’s ankle is, it’s gonna be a while,” Carlisle said prior to Thursday’s contest. “I’m not gonna give a timetable, but he definitely will not play any of the next three games (including Thursday’s). I’m certain of that.”
With just 12 games left in the Pacers’ season and the organization not showing a whole lot of urgency to claim a spot in the play-in tournament, it wouldn’t be a surprise if we don’t see much more of Haliburton the rest of the way. For the time being, we can expect him to be unavailable on Saturday vs. Philadelphia and on Monday in Charlotte, with T.J. McConnell and Andrew Nembhard running the point in his absence.
Here’s more from around the Central:
- Cavaliers forward Dean Wade has struggled since returning from a shoulder injury in January, averaging just 3.3 PPG on .353/.283/.600 shooting in 21 games (17.3 MPG). Although he’s healthy enough to play, Wade’s shoulder is still bothering him, sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, who wonders if Wade also may be feeling some added pressure following Kevin Love‘s buyout last month.
- While the Bulls remain on the outside of the play-in picture in the East, they’ve found success with a starting lineup featuring new addition Patrick Beverley, Alex Caruso, and their three stars (Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic). As Rob Schaefer of Bulls.com observes, no five-man unit that has played at least 150 minutes this season has a better net rating than Chicago’s group (plus-23.6).
- Pistons centers Jalen Duren and James Wiseman displayed some surprising chemistry when they played together on Thursday, but having them both on the court did create some spacing issues, writes Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscription required). The Pistons, who would like to use both young big men going forward, are hopeful that Wiseman’s jump shot will continue to develop, helping to ease those spacing concerns, Sankofa notes.
- In a conversation with Sam Amick of The Athletic, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo discussed the MVP criteria, his desire to win another title, and his belief that the team’s NBA-best record would be even better if Khris Middleton had been healthy all season. “If we played with Khris (all season)… I think we have 55 (wins) now,” Antetokounmpo said when Milwaukee’s record was 48-19. “I really do believe that.”
Another ankle sprain…nothing to see here
Pistons will be fun to watch. They have some work to do…but some fun players
I said it when Love got bought out and I’ll say it again: Dean Wade is a good player, but he in no way replaces what Love brought to the Cavs. Love was a better rebounder, scorer, and playmaker than Wade has the ability to be. He’s a 3nD wing with better defense, but Wade isn’t a volume shooter, and he’s not anywhere near as experienced as Love even though he’s a better athlete at this point in their careers. I will forever call Bickerstaff’s move to bench Love a dumb one.
JB’s move to totally bench Love was dumb. Telling someone there is no way I’m letting you in a game at all for weeks is not good management of human capital.
However, Love was playing terrible so while dumb it wasn’t the most egregious thing ever. Volume scoring is much less valuable with D Mitchell around and Love was volume bricking for a months. Wade defense however is very valuable with small guards.
Bulls starter is joke.to small. Maybe if vooch injury , bd will put patwill at 5. Seem like he hate drummond