Haliburton's status is a great unknown for Pacers going into Game 6 of NBA Finals

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tyrese Haliburton would not be playing on Thursday if this were a regular season game. He probably would be sidelined for a week or two if this was December or January.

But this is June. It's the NBA Finals. The Indiana Pacers' season is on the line. That's why — even with a strained right calf — Haliburton is trying to find any way possible to play in the win-or-else Game 6 that awaits against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night.

Will the Pacers' star guard and Olympic gold medalist play or not? That's the big question going into Game 6, and there probably won't be an answer until a few hours before the 8:40 p.m. Eastern tip-off time on Thursday night.

“I think I have to be as smart as I want to be,” Haliburton said Wednesday. “Have to understand the risks, ask the right questions. I’m a competitor. I want to play. I’m going to do everything in my power to play. That’s just what it is.”

The good news for the Pacers: Haliburton did everything the team did in practice on Wednesday. The bad news: That only involved sitting through 25 minutes of film, a 30-minute walkthrough and then some light shooting while basically flat-footed the whole time.

“He'll go through the day tomorrow,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said Wednesday. “Our prep session is tomorrow late afternoon. They’ll get together and do some testing. That will determine whether he plays or not. If he doesn’t play, we have a plan, obviously, if we’re without him.”

Haliburton is trying every treatment he can think of right now in order to help his strained right calf, a diagnosis that was confirmed by an MRI exam on Tuesday. Hyperbaric chambers, needles, massage, electronic stimulation, special tape.

Whatever it takes.

“We got soldiers on this team,” Pacers forward Obi Toppin said. “We’re going to try to play through any type of injuries or anything. Ty is a soldier. He’s most likely going to be good. We don’t know yet.”

Haliburton was dealing with an ankle injury earlier in the series and now has the calf matter to deal with as well; it's not clear if the two are related, and really, it doesn't matter at this point.

The calf issue presented itself during Monday's Game 5 loss in Oklahoma City. Haliburton played through it for most of his 34 minutes, but failed to make a field goal in the game and Indiana lost to Oklahoma City 120-109 — falling behind 3-2 in the title series.

Now facing a win-or-else scenario, there is a chance Haliburton does not play in Game 6 on Thursday.

If Haliburton cannot play, it would seem likely that the Pacers would promote guard TJ McConnell to a starting role. McConnell has been brilliant throughout these playoffs and was a big spark in Game 5 when Indiana closed an 18-point deficit to a two-point difference in the second half before Oklahoma City pulled away again and for good.

“He is another ball handler, someone that can get us to our spots, push the pace,” Pacers forward Pascal Siakam said of McConnell. “He played great last game. He is going to be huge for us going forward, too.”

Haliburton left Game 5 late in the first quarter and returned to the bench area with a wrap on his lower leg. He not only returned to the game, he played 34 minutes — but did so while missing all six of his shots and with him barely looking to shoot at all in the second half. He finished the game with seven rebounds and six assists, but only four points.

It was the first time in Haliburton’s career that he logged at least 34 minutes and failed to make a single field goal.

The Pacers, Carlisle said, discussed not letting Haliburton play in the second half. Haliburton vetoed those plans and played 17 minutes in the second half, leading the Pacers in rebounds and assists after intermission.

Haliburton was part of the team that won Olympic gold in Paris for USA Basketball last year, but he was slowed by injuries then as well — and missed the final games of Indiana’s run against Boston in the Eastern Conference finals a year ago because of a hamstring issue.

“I have a lot of trust in our medical staff. I have a lot of trust in our organization to make the right decision,” Haliburton said. “I think there’s been many situations through the course of my career where they’ve trusted me on my body. ... I want to be out there. That’s the plan.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton watches during the second half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals basketball series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Friday, June 13, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) drives as Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) defends during the first half of Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Monday, June 16, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren, left, and Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, center, battle for the rebound during the second half of Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Monday, June 16, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) drives past Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) during the second half of Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Monday, June 16, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

MUMBAI, India (AP) — Shreyas Iyer was provisionally named in India’s squad on Saturday for the home one-day international series against New Zealand starting Jan. 11.

India will host the Black Caps in a white-ball engagement — three ODIs and five T20s — in the build-up to the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Iyer returns to the international fold after sustaining a spleen injury during an ODI against Australia in Sydney last October.

His selection is subject to fitness clearance from BCCI’s medical team and he will return as India’s vice-captain for the three-match series.

Skipper Shubman Gill also returns, after he missed the ODI series against South Africa in December. He had a neck spasm in the test series earlier, and subsequently played in the T20s against the Proteas.

Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tilak Verma missed out. Gaikwad had scored a maiden ODI hundred against South Africa in Visakhapatnam.

Rishabh Pant is retained as second keeper-batter behind Lokesh Rahul, who had stood in as captain against the Proteas.

Star batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had both participated in the domestic List A tournament — Vijay Hazare Trophy — and return to the international stage for the ODIs.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya is fit, but not sufficiently enough to bowl 10 overs in an ODI. Thus, he has been rested further ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup (in India and Sri Lanka) starting Feb. 7. Nitish Kumar Reddy is included in the squad.

Pacer Mohammed Siraj returns to lead the bowling lineup with Jasprit Bumrah rested again. Siraj had missed the South Africa series because of workload management.

The three ODIs will be played in Vadodara (Jan. 11), Rajkot (Jan. 14) and Indore (Jan. 18), with the five-match T20 series starting Jan. 21.

Squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

FILE - Captain of Punjab Kings Shreyas Iyer addresses a news conference on the eve of the final match of Indian Premier League at Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki, File)