OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton was starting a move toward the basket, and his right leg didn’t seem to move with him.
And the ensuing scene was heartbreaking for the Pacers.
Haliburton — who was playing with a strained right calf — tumbled to the court in a heap, immediately began punching the floor in frustration and needed to be helped to the locker room in Game 7 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night.
John Haliburton, Tyrese’s father, told ABC it was an Achilles tendon injury. An MRI is still likely to confirm that, but there are simple tests — without a need for imaging — that doctors typically use to determine whether there is a serious injury to the tendon.
The Pacers quickly ruled out Haliburton for the rest of Game 7 with that they called a lower right leg injury, and replays appeared to show something popping in the back of his leg. The injury happened with 4:55 left in the first quarter.
Haliburton put no weight on the leg and had his face wrapped in towels 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.
“It’s a heartbreak, man,” Pacers center Myles Turner told ABC during an in-game interview after the opening period. “It’s unfortunate … but we’ve got his back.”
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 possibly, for Haliburton — the issues will linger into next season or rob of them of the chance to play in 2025-26 entirely.
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