If you’re a Pacers fan, the phrase of the day is ‘back-to-back’. This would indicate the back-to-back wins they’ve had against the Timberwolves and Mavericks, leading to the back-to-back games they have against the Brooklyn Nets. They’re growing into one of the league’s clutch teams after their 1-point over the Bucks and 2-point OT win over Minnesota. But there’s a chance that Indy point guard Tyrese Haliburton could miss the first of the twofer against the Nets.

Speaking of Hali- he probably had the biggest clutch moment of the season against the Bucks. 4 seconds on the clock in the 4th quarter, and the Pacers down 111-114. Enter Tyrese- he gets checked by Andrew Nembhard in the opposition half, after which he nails a three off-balance, drawing a foul in the process. Only God knows when the Gainbridge Fieldhouse previously rocked that hard. He nailed the free throw too, putting the Pacers 1 up with 3.4 seconds to go. Despite Giannis’ attempts to bulldoze through the Pacers and attempt a buzzer-beater three, Hali’s play added to his 14-3-10 double-double which resulted in a Pacers dub.

But after the reverse fixture 4 days later (which they lost), he’s not played a single game- which was the consecutive wins against Dallas and Wolves. It was apparently an awkward fall in the Bucks game that caused an injury to his back. Coach Rick Carlisle mentioned steady development, but gave no confirmation on his availability against the Nets. According to ESPN, he’s on a day-to-day basis for the Nets clash.

The Double-Double Machine has been doing just that this season, averaging 18.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 9 assists per game. When he’s on the floor, it’s not impossible to stop the Pacers’ attack. But whether he plays or not, they’ve shown resilience in the face of injury-plagued adversity on more occasions than once.

Pacers confident of victory despite potential Tyrese Haliburton absence

In their trip to the Target Center on March 18th, the Pacers were without four of their five starters. Nembhard was the only one available against a Wolves side that was on an 8-game win streak. But that didn’t stop the backups from coming alive, with Obi Toppin recording a 34-10-4 double-double to help the Pacers win by a slender 2-point margin in overtime. Ideally, Tyrese’s potential absence shouldn’t make them quake in their boots against a poor Nets side. But their history tells otherwise.

Of their last 10 head-to-heads, both are dead-tied with 5 wins each. But if you go just 6 more games before the last 10, the Nets were on a 7-game unbeaten streak against the Pacers. The recent history doesn’t play kindly for Indiana, despite them being 113-84 in their overall head-to-head regular season bouts.

Tyrese Haliburton has averaged a whopping 20 points and 8 assists against Brooklyn while shooting 40% from the field. In case he doesn’t make the game at Gainbridge, the Pacers have shown their quality to get it over the line without him. Do you think they can get it done against the Nets ahead of their back-to-back in Indianapolis?