Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton expected to miss next three games

All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton will sit out the Indiana Pacers next three games, coach Rick Carlisle said Tuesday.

Haliburton has missed six of seven games since straining his left hamstring when he slipped while driving to the basket against Boston on Jan. 8. Teammates carried Haliburton from the court to the locker room. An MRI the next day confirmed the initial diagnosis, that it was a strained hamstring.

He returned to action in Friday's loss at Portland but sat out again Sunday at Phoenix. Now, he'll miss the first three games of Indiana's four-game homestand this week — and possibly all four.

"Tyrese came back for the Portland game, did well in the game but our training staff wasn't comfortable with how he responded to that," Carlisle told local radio station 1070 The Fan on Tuesday morning. "We're going to sit him for the next three games so that will be tonight, Thursday, Friday against Denver, Philadelphia and Phoenix — and then we'll see where he is Saturday and whether or not Sunday against Memphis will be a possibility. This is not a re-injury this is simply injury recovery management type stuff."

Haliburton leads the Pacers in scoring with 23.6 points per game and leads the NBA in assists with 12.6 per game. He made his first All-Star appearance last season and was the leader in fan balloting among Eastern Conference guards when league officials provided their most recent update last Thursday.

Starters for the Feb. 18 game are scheduled to be announced this Thursday, and a healthy Haliburton could be playing in front of Pacers fans. Indiana is hosting its first All-Star Game since 1985.

Reporting by The Associated Press.