Indiana Pacers Injury Report (Dec. 26): Latest on Tyrese Haliburton, Bruce Brown's status
Tyrese Haliburton will be in action for the Indiana Pacers as they return from their Christmas break to take on the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night. Haliburton is not listed in the Pacers' injury report ahead of their travel to Houston.
However, the Pacers still have one player to worry about, as Bruce Brown is questionable for the Rockets game due to a knee injury.
What happened to Tyrese Haliburton, Bruce Brown?
Bruce Brown suffered a bone bruise on his right knee, which forced him to sit out the Indiana Pacers' Saturday night game against the Orlando Magic.
Haliburton put up a solid performance, but it was not enough to lift the Pacers past the Magic at home.
Tyrese Haliburton's stats vs Orlando Magic
Tyrese Haliburton led the Indiana Pacers with 29 points on 12-of-22 field goals including 3-of-5 from the deep, two rebounds, 15 assists, and three steals.
Myles Turner added 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including a perfect 7-for-7 from inside the arc, seven rebounds, four blocks and one steal. Buddy Hield put up 20 points, going 5-for-11 from the 3-point range, seven rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.
Andrew Nembhard started in Bruce Brown's place and tallied 17 points on 8-of-10 field goals, one rebound and five assists. However, the night belonged to Paolo Banchero, who fired 34 points on 11-of-20 field goals, seven rebounds, four assists and one steal in the Magic's 117-110 road win.
Franz Wagner also had an impressive night, putting up 24 points, six rebounds and one steal.
Tyrese Haliburton eyes payback in post-Christmas clash
Haliburton conceded that he did not play well for the Indiana Pacers in the last few games leading up to the Christmas break.
Although a 29-point, 15-assist stat line doesn't look poor, Haliburton reckons he owed the team a much better performance:
“I've been bad for the last week and a half. I've been hurting the team more than I've been helping it.”
Now that the days off are over, Haliburton has a chance to get some payback, and it begins with a travel to Houston against the Rockets, which will open a two-game road trip.
With Brown, who has been the Pacers' secondary ball handler in case Haliburton gets tangled up, still questionable, expect the Rockets to pressure Haliburton more defensively.