Pacers get bad news about Tyrese Haliburton, T.J. McConnell for Sunday's game at Portland
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Point guard Tyrese Haliburton will miss Sunday night's game against the Portland Trailblazers and Monday night's game against the Golden State Warriors with a sore groin and point guard T.J. McConnell will miss Sunday's game with a non-COVID illness, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said in his pre-game press conference on Sunday.
Haliburton, the Pacers leading scorer with 19.1 points per game and the NBA's leader in assists with 10.9 per game was listed as questionable with the sore groin in Friday's game against the Jazz but played through the injury. It apparently did not react well. These will be the first games Haliburton misses this season. He's scored in double figures in all but two of his 22 games and dished out double-figure assists in all but six.
McConnell is averaging 5.8 points, 4.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game, ranking second on the roster in the latter two categories, proving steady ball-handling and on-ball defense for the second unit.
Carlisle wouldn't specify his plans for the point guard position Sunday night, but rookie Andrew Nembhard is the only other player on the roster with extensive point guard experience, having played the position in college at Gonzaga and handling the point frequently when Haliburton is off the floor. He averages 7.4 points and 3.4 assists per game and beat the Los Angeles Lakers with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer earlier this week.
"I'm just thinking about making plays for the guys," Nembhard said. "Gotta settle the team a little bit, organize us a little bit offensively, and just keep being aggressive and doing what I've been doing."
The Pacers also called up guard Trevelin Queen, who has a G-League two-way contract, from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, to help the backcourt. He said he found out last week before his G-League game that he needed to be in Portland. He said he just arrived a few hours before the game.
"It's just an opportunity," Queen said. "I've been preparing my whole life."
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers vs. Blazers: Injury updates on Tyrese Haliburton, T.J. McConnell
