Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton: Expected to play

Coach Rick Carlisle said he expects Haliburton, who's officially listed as questionable due to back spasms, to play in Monday's Game 1 against the Knicks, Brian Lewis of the New York Post reports.

Given it's the playoffs and he didn't miss time during the opening-round series versus Milwaukee, Haliburton was already considered more probable than questionable, so this isn't a surprising update. After the back spasms flared up, Haliburton played 32.7 minutes over the final three matchups against the Bucks compared to 40.3 minutes across the first three games, though one of those was an overtime contest. Even if he was a bit limited, Haliburton remained productive despite the back issue, as he averaged 19.0 points, 6.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds after landing on the injury report.