Strong image of the evening, Tyrese Haliburton left the floor carried by his teammates, shortly before the end of the second quarter.
The flamboyant leader was injured when he slipped on a sudden change of direction near the basket, and suffered a hamstring injury in his left leg. He is scheduled to have an MRI on Tuesday which will determine the length of his absence.
Haliburton (23 years old) is one of the sensations of the season at the head of the electric attack of the Pacers, unfortunate finalists of the NBA Cup in December in Las Vegas. The leader with unconventional shooting mechanics scores an average of 23.6 points and largely leads the assists rankings (12.5).
The blow is all the harder as his participation in the All-Star Game, scheduled for February 18 at home in Indianapolis, is thus called into doubt.
Without him, and trailing by 11 points towards the middle of the game, his teammates still found the resources to overthrow Boston, currently the best NBA team (leaders in the east, 28 wins – 8 losses).
“We lost our best player, so I had to raise my level a notch and help the team win,” said Bennedict Mathurin, author of 26 points coming off the bench.
The young Canadian (21) scored the three decisive free throws after being fouled by opposing center Kristaps Porzingis less than a second from the end of the game, at the end of a fourth quarter spectacular.
“’Ty’ was out but it looked like the team knew what to do. We have a deep squad, with many players capable of having an impact on matches,” he added.
The Pacers had already beaten the Celtics in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup in December, but had just suffered a scathing defeat at home against the same opponent last Saturday (118-101).
Boston, favorite for the NBA title, rested its star Jayson Tatum on Monday. Without him, his lieutenant Jaylen Brown took the game on his own with 40 points, without success.
In addition to Haliburton, another star of the league suffered on Monday: the Memphis Grizzlies announced the end of the season of their leader Ja Morant, injured in a shoulder.
Injured Saturday in training (subluxation), Morant must undergo surgery on his right shoulder due to a torn labrum. The 24-year-old leader will have had a very shortened 2023-24 season, having only started on December 19 after a 25-match suspension for posting images of himself brandishing firearms last year.
In the other evening matches, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (32 points) brought Oklahoma City to victory against Washington (136-128), the Chicago Bulls dominated Charlotte (119-112) despite 39 points from Terry Rozier, and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks (25 points, 11 rebounds) were surprised at home by the Utah Jazz (132-116).
Results of NBA matches played Monday:LA Clippers – Phoenix 138 – 111Miami – Houston 120 – 113Milwaukee – Utah 116 – 132Charlotte – Chicago 112 – 119 (a. p.)Washington – Oklahoma City 128 – 136Indiana – Boston 133 – 131
