Tyrese Haliburton should sit out tonight's massive Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Unfortunately the Indiana Pacers trail in this best of seven series 3-2 and their season will end with a loss. But a greater loss would be if Haliburton's calf strain turns into a torn achilles tendon that costs him next season. Exhibit A: This is exactly what happened to Kevin Durant with the Warriors in the 2019 Finals! And the Eastern Conference is still wide open next year with questions regarding the Celtics and the health of Jayson Tatum.
We acknowledge this is the NBA Finals and there is no guarantee that Haliburton and the Pacers will ever get back. They are in win-now mode and their backs are against the wall.
TYRESE HALIBURTON SHOULD SIT
Even if Haliburton does play tonight, how effective will he be? There have been superstars in sports where we say, "We'd rather have 50 percent of an injured Michael Jordan or Patrick Mahomes on the court or field than no Michael Jordan or Patrick Mahomes." But Haliburton is not that type of player yet. He courageously tried to play through the injury in Game 5 and was 0-6 from the field and scored 4 points. If the Thunder know he cannot hit shots from the outside and he cannot penetrate into the lane why bother defending him?
So, for the sake of his long term career Tyrese Haliburton should sit out tonight. It's a tough call and it goes against any competitive player's intuition. That's why Pacers coach Rick Carlisle should be the one to make the decision for the sake of his player.
For more NBA talk and analysis tune in each weekday from 2-6 pm to Craig Shemon and Company on ESPN Southwest Florida.
