The Indiana Pacers were without guard Tyrese Haliburton on Thursday night because of a right ankle sprain, an injury that could cost the All-Star at least three games, coach Rick Carlisle said before the Pacers played the Milwaukee Bucks.

“Tyrese’s ankle, it’s gonna be a while,” Carlisle said at a pregame press conference before the Pacers won 139-123 in Milwaukee. “Not gonna give a timetable, but he will definitely not play any of the next three games, I’m certain of that.”

Carlisle said Haliburton was injured during practice, and it came at a particularly crucial time for the Pacers, who are fighting to get into the postseason.

Haliburton, who played in his first All-Star Game last month in his third season in the league, leads the Pacers in scoring (20.8 points per game), assists (10.4) and steals (1.6) over 54 games in his first full season with the team. He missed the Pacers’ previous two games with a knee bruise.

Indiana is 28-26 in those games, and just 4-12 in the others for a 32-38 mark, which going into Thursday was 12th in the Eastern Conference standings, one game behind the 10th-place Washington Wizards (32-37).

The top six teams in each conference automatically make the playoffs while the 7-10 seeds go to the play-in tournament.

In addition to averaging a double-double in scoring and assists, Haliburton, 23, is averaging 3.7 rebounds a game and shooting 48.8 percent from the floor, 40.3 percent from 3-point range and 87 percent from the free-throw line.

The Sacramento Kings selected the 6-foot-5 guard with the 12th overall pick out of Iowa State in 2020. The Kings traded him to Indiana on Feb. 8, 2022.

Haliburton has started 151 of his 189 career games and is averaging 16.2 points, 7.9 assists, 1.6 steals and 3.6 rebounds.

–Field Level Media