Tyrese Haliburton Urged To Repeat 2x NBA Champ’s Heroics After Recent Injury

On May 8, 1970, New York Knicks center Willis Reed etched his name into basketball immortality by playing Game 7 of the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers with a torn thigh muscle. Reed's courage to play through a serious injury has gone down in American sports lore – not least of which, because the Knicks won the game and the NBA title along with it.

Fifty-five years later, Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton is being encouraged to play through the pain of a calf strain as Indiana heads home for Game 6 of this season's finals. 

After jumping out to a 2-1 series lead, the Pacers have dropped consecutive games to the Oklahoma City Thunder and must win on Thursday to keep their hopes of a first NBA championship alive. 

ESPN's Alan Hahn said Wednesday on "Get Up" that Haliburton – coming off an 0-for-6 shooting performance in Game 5 – has a duty to "inspire" his teammates and will them to victory in Game 6, just as Reed and the Knicks did all those years ago. 

"Willis Reed did it in an NBA Finals game where he could barely walk," Hahn said. "It's all about inspiring your teammates, just giving your team a chance to win. Whatever you can contribute is what matters most right now...You don't know if you will ever be back here again."

Haliburton is playing through lower-leg soreness for the entirety of the finals, and Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said his star guard will be a game-time decision on Thursday. But Hahn thinks Haliburton must play through the pain with Indiana's season on the line, as this what it means to play basketball at the highest level.

"You want to inspire your teammates, it's a home game, this is what sports are all about," Hahn said. "This is what it is to be a high-level athlete."