Tyrese Haliburton played through a sore right calf during the second half of the Indiana Pacers’ 120-109 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 on Monday night.
Haliburton, who finished with four points on 0-for-6 shooting from the field, went to the locker room early in the game.
Haliburton returned in the second quarter with the calf wrapped and played in the second half despite concerns that he reaggravated the injury.
“It’s the Finals,” Haliburton said. “I’ve worked my whole life to be here and I want to be out there to compete, help my teammates any way I can.
“I was not great tonight by any means, but it’s not really a thought of mine to not play here. If I can walk, then I want to play.”
Haliburton suffered a right ankle injury in Game 2 and acknowledged that the current injury was in the same area.
With the Pacers down 3-2 in the series, Rick Carlisle said after the Game 5 loss that he did not expect Haliburton to miss any time.
“[Haliburton’s] not a hundred percent,” Carlisle said. “There’s a lot of guys in the series that aren’t.
“This is a lifetime opportunity. Not many guys are going to sit, even if they are a little banged up. If you’re injured, that’s a different story. But we’ll evaluate everything with Tyrese and see how he wakes up tomorrow.”
Haliburton finished with six assists and seven rebounds, though his six total drives in Game 5 were his fewest in a game this postseason.
Haliburton added that the Pacers would have to continue finding ways to win ahead of Thursday’s Game 6.
“We’ve had our backs against the wall many different times over the last two years and had to find different ways to win,” he said. “The way that this year has gone, nobody said this was going to be sweet.”