Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton is officially questionable for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals with a hamstring strain as his team tries to keep its season alive.
Haliburton was also questionable the day before Game 3 but was eventually ruled out. There are doubts about his ability to play in Game 4 — even if he wants to push through the injury (usually a bad idea with hamstring issues), how much 65% of Haliburton could help the Pacers is up for debate. Haliburton averaged 20.1 points and 10.9 assists a game for the Pacers this season, and he is the key to the Pacers up-tempo offense.
Ben Sheppard started in Haliburton’s place, but he went scoreless. The bulk of the point guard minutes went to T.J. McConnell, who scored 23 points with nine rebounds and six assists.
Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis, who has missed this entire series and been out a month with a strained calf, is officially out for Game 4. There had been a report that Porzingis was targeting Game 4 for a return — and Boston would like their center to get some game action under his belt before the NBA Finals — but he is not ready yet.
No Porzingis means Al Horford again will start and get heavy minutes. That worked out well for Boston in Game 3, when Horford was 7-of-12 from 3 on his way to 23 points. Boston went on to win 114-11.
Boston is up 3-0 in the series and can close it out Monday. The NBA Finals do not start until June 6.
