After the 120-109 Game 5 loss on Monday, the Indiana Pacers’ locker room was quieter than what comes after a usual defeat. Players exchanged glances, spoke in hushed whispers, and kept stealing looks toward the training room where the face of their offense, Tyrese Haliburton, was getting his right calf examined. His fight to stay on the court might have cost them the game; and now a deciding Game 6 hinges on his right leg, currently undergoing MRI for right calf strain.

During the first quarter on Monday, Haliburton took a fall while driving towards the basket, re-aggravating his calf injury. With HC Rick Carlisle confirming, “We were concerned at halftime, and he insisted on playing,” the point guard returned from the locker room in the second quarter with taped calf, ending the game with 0 of 6 shooting and 4 points, both career playoffs lows. But as important as he has been, both physically and psychologically, for this Indiana team, his body taking a visible toll was also apparent in the Pacers’ magical playoff run. And this injury that he confirmed was “the same”? It became clearer in Game 2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder itself.

In the post-game presser then, Haliburton limped off the stage after talking to the reporters. Later, it was revealed to be a right ankle injury. Still, the point guard, who has been keeping this team alive with his clutch game-winning or tying shots, continued through the pain. Possibly, NBA skills trainer Drew Hanlen’s words from his Sacramento days ringing in his ears, “Sometimes being too unselfish is actually being selfish.” But now, with their title on the line in Game 6 at home, Indiana faces an impossible question: Do they risk him again? With just few hours to the buzzer, we have more details on Haliburton.

According to NBA TV official X account, Rick Carlisle isn’t making any promises. The Pacers coach admitted, his tone measured but tensed. “He participated in all our walkthrough stuff, so, but it’s a walkthrough. So it’s not…there was no real running or moving or anything. So, we’ll see where we are tomorrow. It’s a topic people wanna hear about and know about and there’s gonna be a lot of questions about it. But we will not really know for sure until late tomorrow afternoon or early evening.” Translation: Haliburton’s status is up in the air, and Indiana is preparing for life without him.

But here’s what Carlisle didn’t say; what the locker room already knew. As The Athletic’s Sam Amick revealed, teammates watched Haliburton struggle just to close out on defense, his usual lightning-quick stops replaced by labored hops. “Everybody could see the impact,” Amick noted. “He was leaving his feet because he didn’t have the ability to shuffle…. and against obviously a team the caliber as the Thunder, that’s an issue.” Yet, true to form, Haliburton refused to sit.

When the reporters questioned his availability after the loss, he insisted, “It’s the Finals, man. I’ve worked my whole life to be here and I want to be out there to compete. Help my teammates any way I can. I was not great tonight by any means, but it’s not really a thought of mine to not play here. If I can walk, then I want to play. … Got to be ready to go for Game 6.”

The question is: Should he?

In Game 5, he finished with 4 points (0-6 FG), 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and a -13 rating. Meanwhile, backup T.J. McConnell sparked Indiana’s near-comeback with 13 third-quarter points in just six minutes. The math is brutal: With Haliburton hobbled, the Pacers’ offense sputtered. Without him? They might actually have a shot if McConnell gets starter minutes.

But this isn’t just about X’s and O’s. The locker room respects Haliburton’s grit, but as Amick concluded, “Chance to push the whole thing to 7, go back to OKC. Rick Carlisle is going to have to make sure that he makes the right calls here.” Carlisle’s decision isn’t just medical; it’s psychological. Does he bench his star to save him from himself? Or roll the dice and hope one-legged Hali can summon magic?

Whatever Carlisle chooses, he’s running out of time. And if Paul Pierce has his way, the Pacers’ coach needs to overhaul everything.

Paul Pierce’s Blueprint for Carlisle

Paul Pierce’s frustration boiled over as he dissected the Pacers’ Game 5 collapse, zeroing-in on what he saw as Rick Carlisle’s critical missteps. The Celtics legend turned analyst didn’t mince words when breaking down Indiana’s defensive approach against Oklahoma City’s dynamic duo.

“It’s Rick Carlisle not changing the defense. You supposed to take them from their strengths,” Pierce emphasized, his voice rising with each syllable. ” When they come off that pick—it should be a trap every time, every single time.” His solution was blunt: throw the defensive playbook out the window and implement an aggressive trapping scheme on every high screen. Force the Thunder guards to give up the ball early, and live with the consequences.

The Hall of Famer saved particular criticism for Carlisle’s fourth-quarter rotations, pounding the table about T.J. McConnell’s limited minutes during crunch time. “The other thing, that Carlisle didn’t do. He didn’t put TJ McConnell in to the fourth quarter, until late. Like he had it going, you supposed to play him the whole fourth, like—like it was the little things,” The numbers backed Pierce’s argument.

But Pierce’s impassioned blueprint came with a sobering caveat that hung over the entire discussion. None of these strategic adjustments would matter if Tyrese Haliburton remained sidelined or severely limited by his calf injury. The Thunder’s margin for error had shrunk to zero, and Carlisle now faced the ultimate coaching paradox.

The weight of Carlisle’s impending decision could define not just this Finals series, but how his second stint in Indiana is ultimately remembered. As either a masterful overachievement or a missed opportunity.