Just-in: Tyrese Haliburton is Not Expected to Play on Thursday Night

On Thursday night, the Philadelphia 76ers are set to take on the Indiana Pacers for the final time this season, as they look to extend their ongoing winning streak to seven games. Continuing their winning streak may not be the only objective of Thursday night’s match, as they could also win the season series against the Pacers, following their wishy-washy performances in the group stage of the inaugural In-Season Tournament.

Against Indiana, Philadelphia managed to take the first game of the season series, while dropping the second match in an enthralling finale to their In-Season Tournament run. While the results varied, one player remained consistent across both matches; Tyrese Haliburton.

The 23-year-old put up a team-high 25 points in their first meeting, while erupting for 39 points the next night, helping suppress the efforts of reigning MVP Joel Embiid. While Haliburton was a pain for the Sixers in their first two meetings, they won’t have to worry about him on Thursday night as he will continue to sit out due to injury recovery. The injury that Haliburton is recovering happened earlier on in the month when the Pacers’ star slipped while driving to the basket against the Boston Celtics.

The day after the 23-year-old sustained his injury, it was reported that Indiana would re-evaluated in roughly two weeks, with Thursday not falling into that period. The injury didn’t stop Haliburton from topping the Eastern Conference’s backcourt for All-Star voting in the third return, amassing over 2.7 million votes.

The votes come for a valid reason, as the Pacers guard is having himself quite the year, averaging 23 points on 49 percent shooting, while dishing out a league-high 12 assists per game.