Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton suffered a torn right Achilles tendon in his team’s 103-91 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, the team confirmed on Monday. He is set to receive surgery for the injury on Monday as well.
Haliburton, who was playing with a strained right calf, went down with a lower right leg injury in the first quarter and immediately began punching the court in frustration. Haliburton put no weight on the leg as he was taken to the Pacers’ locker room for evaluation. Virtually the entire Indiana playing, coaching and medical staff surrounded him on the court once he got hurt.
Shortly after, Haliburton was ruled out for the remainder of Game 7. His father, John, told ESPN during the game that his son had suffered an Achilles injury, but didn’t disclose the severity.
Haliburton had nine points, all on 3-pointers, when he got hurt with 4:55 left in the first quarter as the Pacers were looking to pull off the upset and win an NBA title. Indiana was able to withstand the loss of Haliburton for the first half, taking a one-point lead into the break. However, it struggled offensively in the second half, committing eight turnovers in the third quarter alone. They only scored 43 points in the second half.
When the Pacers walked off the court at the end of the game, Haliburton was there to greet them outside of the locker room as he was using crutches.
“Doesn’t surprise me at all,” Pacers guard TJ McConnell said when asked if he was surprised Haliburton was there at the end to console teammates. “That’s who he is as a person, a teammate. He put his ego aside constantly. He could have been in the locker room feeling sorry for himself after something like that happened, but he wasn’t. He was up greeting us. … That’s who Tyrese Haliburton is. He’s just the greatest, man.”
As the Pacers lost their chance to win an NBA title on Sunday, the loss of their star player was also top of mind when their season came to an end.
“All of our hearts dropped,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “But he will be back.”
To their credit, the Pacers tried to rally for their teammates. But the Thunder were the best team in the league all season, finishing 68-14 — and in the second half Sunday night, with the title on the line, they were much the best again.
Haliburton, who had been dealing with leg issues in the series and had the calf issue flare up in Game 5, had been getting all sorts of treatment to get the calf in good enough shape for him to play in the last two games of the NBA Finals. He played well in Game 6, and Game 7 started promisingly — with Haliburton making three deep 3-pointers.
And then he was gone.
“I think I have to be as smart as I want to be,” Haliburton said before Game 6 last week. “Have to understand the risks, ask the right questions. I’m a competitor. I want to play. I’m going to do everything in my power to play. That’s just what it is.”
Haliburton, part of the team that won Olympic gold at the Paris Games last summer, was using hyperbaric chamber therapy, massage, needle treatments, electronic stimulation, special tape and a wrap to help treat the calf strain. He said after Game 6 that his treatment was going on virtually around the clock.
John Haliburton told ABC sideline reporter Lisa Salters that his son was surrounded by family and watching the game in the Pacers’ locker room.
“He said that Tyrese is doing as well as he can be under the circumstances,” Salters said on the broadcast.
Injuries have been a huge factor in these playoffs. Boston star Jayson Tatum was wheeled off with a right Achilles tendon tear that essentially ended any realistic hope the Celtics had of defending the title they won last season. He will surely miss at least some of next season as well.
Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard also tore an Achilles tendon in the Bucks’ first-round series against Indiana. Golden State’s Stephen Curry ran out of time before his injured hamstring could allow him to return to the Warriors’ second-round series against Minnesota. If the Los Angeles Lakers’ season had gone past the first round, LeBron James would have been sidelined with a knee sprain.
James was watching Game 7 and immediately posted his reaction to Haliburton’s injury on social media. It was a one-word expletive, which didn’t need much explanation.
For Lillard, for Tatum — and now, quite probably, for Haliburton — the issues will linger into next season or rob of them of the chance to play in 2025-26 entirely.
I know that he gave us everything, you know, everything he had. It just hurts that he couldn’t see it through with us,” Pacers forward Pascal Siakam said. “But just incredibly proud of him, and everything he’s accomplished. And I know, you know, there’s more. There’s more coming.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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