Sacramento Kings rookie Tyrese Haliburton exited Sunday night’s game versus the Dallas Mavericks early after suffering a left knee injury, the team announced.
Haliburton suffered the injury early in the third quarter when he was taking the ball up the court. He appeared to step on the foot of a defender, which threw off his balance. Haliburton then planted awkwardly on his left leg and immediately hit the court in visible pain.
Following the play, Haliburton laid on the court for a few moments before he was tended to by the Kings’ medical staff. He was eventually able to hobble off of the court back to the locker room with assistance, a positive sign given the nature of the injury.
Haliburton recorded 11 points and five rebounds prior to leaving the game.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Haliburton will undergo an MRI on Monday morning to determine the severity of the injury. The team is reportedly optimistic that Haliburton avoided a major injury during the fall based on its initial testing.
Replays of Tyrese Haliburton's injury which caused him to exit the game pic.twitter.com/C85ZUGrSvu
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) May 3, 2021
The injury to Haliburton would be a devastating blow to what has been an impressive rookie season with the Kings. Entering play on Sunday, Haliburton was averaging 13 points, 5.3 assists and three rebounds in 57 games played.
Haliburton had just returned to the starting lineup recently in place of De’Aaron Fox due to health and safety protocols. He was posting 18.5 points, nine assists and three rebounds over his last four games in place of Fox.
This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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