Tyrese Haliburton available for Pacers-Jazz but battling sore groin
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -- Pacers star point guard Tyrese Haliburton will be available Friday's 9 p.m. ET game against the Utah Jazz at Vivint Arena after being listed as questionable with a sore groin earlier in the day Friday. He said at shootaround Friday that his status would be a game-time decision. He will be part of Friday's starting lineup.
"I feel OK right now," Haliburton said after shootaround. "I'm gonna shoot tonight, probably be more of a game-time decision, see how I feel."
Haliburton said he didn't notice the injury until Thursday morning.
"I just woke up with it," Haliburton said. "They said it could have happened during the game and adrenaline was there so I didn't feel it. But I woke up yesterday morning feeling pretty sore."
Haliburton hasn't missed a game this season and played through an ankle injury earlier this month. On track for his first All-Star game appearance, Haliburton leads the Pacers in scoring with 19.3 points per game and leads the NBA in assists with 11.2 per game against just 2.6 turnovers per game. He has recorded double-figure assists in seven consecutive games and in 16 of the 21 games he's played this season.
Guard Chris Duarte was again listed as out with an ankle injury that has kept him sidelined since he suffered it in the Pacers' Nov. 4 game against the Miami Heat. The 2021 first-round pick was averaging 8.9 points per game and scored 30 points against the Brooklyn Nets the night before the injury. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said earlier this week that there is a chance that Duarte could appear during the Pacers seven-game, 12-day road trip but said he wouldn't call it likely.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers vs. Jazz: Tyrese Haliburton questionable with sore groin
