'It sucked the soul out of us': Tyrese Haliburton's injury brings tragic end to magical season
OKLAHOMA CITY – Tyrese Haliburton was standing just a few feet back from the spot where he stumbled and fell on a drive in Game 5 of the NBA Finals when he began the drive that would end his season.
With just more than 5 minutes to go in the first quarter of Game 7, the Pacers All-Star point guard caught a pass from teammate Obi Toppin a few feet above the 3-point arc and tried to push off of his right foot to drive and immediately crumpled to the floor again.
In Game 5 -- though clearly hobbled with what was later diagnosed as a right calf strain -- he got up. This time, he didn't.
Haliburton still had enough presence of mind to try to pass the basketball instead of simply taking a travel, but once he let it go and the Thunder stole the ball anyway, he became instantly and acutely aware that his sometimes trying but ultimately magical 2024-25 campaign was over and he'd made his last on-court contribution to the Pacers' first NBA Finals run in 25 years. He slapped the floor over and over again with his right hand, stopped to put his forearm under his face and then pounded the floor with his fist. After a timeout, his ashen-faced teammates circled around him and then carried him off the floor to the locker room.
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Game 7 changed in that moment and it's possible much more about the Pacers' short-to-mid-term future did too. They fought on without Haliburton and actually went into halftime with a one-point lead. But they were ultimately overwhelmed by the Thunder's defense in a 103-91 defeat, allowing Oklahoma City to claim its first NBA title and missing out on the Pacers' best chance at one since they moved to the NBA from the ABA in 1976.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said in his postgame press conference that he did not have a diagnosis on Haliburton to provide. Pacers public relations staff only released during the game that it was a lower right leg injury and that he would not return.
"What happened with Tyrese, all of our hearts dropped," Carlisle said. "But he will be back. I don't have any medical information about what may or may not have happened, but he'll be back in time, and I believe he'll make a full recovery."
However, Haliburton's father, John, told Lisa Salters -- sideline reporter for the broadcast for ABC and ESPN -- that it was an Achilles tendon injury and Haliburton was seen in the hallway of the Paycom Center on crutches. There was no confirmation yet Sunday night that the tendon had torn, but the fear of such a devastating injury that could cost the face of the Pacers' franchise not just his offseason but most if not all of next season was palpable in and around the Pacers' locker room.
There is always a solemn feel to a locker room and its surroundings when a season ends, especially when it happens somewhat unexpectedly in a winner-take-all game. However, there were scenes in the hallway outside the Pacers' locker room before it opened to the media that matched what one would expect to see in a funeral home. There were support staff members in tears and men in suit jackets who couldn't find the words for the moment instead exchanging knowing hugs.
Inside Haliburton's teammates acknowledged that as badly as they wanted to win for Haliburton when he went down, they were shaken by seeing a teammate, and a close friend, in that state. They were still shaken afterwards knowing that if he is, in fact, out for all or most of the 2025-26 season, the trajectory of the franchise could change drastically.
Haliburton is the cornerstone of everything the Pacers have built over the past three seasons to turn what was a 25-win lottery team in 2021-22 into the second Pacers team to reach the NBA Finals. In the first two months after he was acquired from the Kings in a Feb. 2022 trade, the flashy but precise playmaker convinced the Pacers coaching staff and front office that instead of ripping the team all the way down to the studs and trying to stockpile draft picks by avoiding playoff contention for years, they should instead build the team in his image and they could get back to contention much quicker.
That meant creating a team that would be selfless enough to run hard down the floor every play and keep the ball constantly moving until it found the man with the best shot. It meant a team full of players with chips on their shoulders from years of being doubted who also didn't get too caught up in their personal pursuits of validation to contribute to and celebrate each other's victories.
Having Haliburton as the team's point guard and franchise player allowed the Pacers to create arguably the most joyful playing style of any team in the NBA and it took them further faster than they had ever expected with an Eastern Conference Finals run in 2023-24 then this season's trip to the NBA Finals. They had won games without him before due to injury, but seeing him go down with the season so close to its end was decidedly more tragic. It was even worse because Haliburton had started the game hot, knocking down three 3-pointers for nine points in the first seven minutes of the first quarter.
"It's heart-breaking, man," center Thomas Bryant said. "You never want to see that with any of our players, especially with Ty. He's the heart and soul of our team. He's our point guard. He's our point god, you know? We all gathered around each other when he went down and said we're trying to do this for him, man. And it just sucks that we couldn't get that accomplished."
It was more painful because the injury itself was the ultimate evidence of how badly Haliburton wanted to win for them and the risks he was willing to take to get the Pacers a championship.
Haliburton played through the calf strain in Game 5, playing 34 minutes despite suffering the injury in the first quarter. He was clearly affected, scoring just four points on 0 of 6 shooting in a 120-109 loss, but he was adamant at halftime about staying in the game. He said afterward, "If I can walk, then I want to play."
He took the same stance after an MRI the next day showed the calf strain. He spent three days going through treatment leading up to Game 6 and was in constant consultation with the team's athletic training staff. He also had meetings with his agents, coaches and members of the front office to make sure everyone was on the same page. Ultimately, he was given the go ahead to take a chance and play if he wanted, but it was made clear to him that there was risk of further injury involved. After Game 6 when he posted 14 points and five assists and the Pacers won to force a Game 7 and get within a game of a title for the first time in their NBA history, the risk felt validated.
"I just look at it as I want to be out there to compete with my brothers," Haliburton said after Game 6. "These are guys that I'm willing to go to war with and we've had such a special year, and we have a special bond as a group, and you know, I think I'd beat myself up if I didn't give it a chance."
But playing in Game 7 meant another spin of the roulette wheel with the Pacers' season but also the health of his leg on the line. For the first seven minutes he actually seemed less affected by the injury than he was in Game 6 right up until the point that he could no longer walk.
Even after the injury Haliburton still stayed in the locker room at halftime and talked to the team to try to keep their spirits up.
"He went out there and gave it his all," forward Obi Toppin said. "He definitely wanted to be there and we felt that. He was a soldier. He went until he couldn't."
When he couldn't, the Pacers initially responded with force. The game was tied at 16 when Haliburton was injured and they fell behind 25-22 at the end of the first quarter. However, they won the second period 26-22 thanks to their defense, holding the Thunder to 7 of 22 shooting in the quarter including 2 of 13 from 3-point range. The Pacers also forced four turnovers and held the Thunder to 0.82 points per possession, taking a 48-47 lead at the break with an Andrew Nembhard 3-pointer with four seconds to go.
They unraveled in the third, however, losing the period 34-20 with seven turnovers against eight field goals. Veteran backup point guard T.J. McConnell made six of the eight field goals in the period and scored 12 of the 20 points but also committed three of the turnovers. The Thunder defense, which led the NBA in steals this season, blitzed and otherwise harassed ball-handlers to force them into bad decisions. Oklahoma City finished the game with 14 steals and 23 turnovers caused which led to 32 points.
"Up until they went on their run, we were moving the ball, taking care of it," McConnell said. "I didn't take care of it so well, obviously. Their pressure can really get to you but I was just trying to be aggressive and had some uncharacteristic turnovers but that happens. Just proud of the fight. We fought to the end. Credit to OKC. They are just really good."
Some of the Pacers acknowledged that they couldn't really get past the injury. Toppin in particular struggled, having been so close to the injury. He ended up going scoreless in the game with on 0 of 4 shooting with three turnovers.
"We needed Ty out there," Toppin said. "He's been good for us all year. For him to go down at the beginning of the game like that, it sucked the soul out of us. I'm not going to say everybody but I don't feel like I played good because I felt like I was thinking about it the whole game. I felt like it was my fault."
The Pacers still fought back to cut a lead that was as great as 22 points in the fourth quarter down to 10 with 2:16 to play, and at other critical junctions in these playoffs, that was enough time for Haliburton to make miracles happen. After a brutal stretch to start the season, Haliburton was one of the most clutch performers in the league toward the end of the regular season and the shots he hit to either win or tie games in the postseason were the story of the playoffs.
In Game 5 against the Bucks in the first round, Haliburton helped the Pacers come back from a seven-point deficit with 40 seconds to go in overtime, scoring the last five points with a 3-point play and then a game-winning layup with 1.1 seconds to go that clinched that series.
In Game 2 against the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals, he helped the Pacers rally from a 14-point deficit to start the fourth quarter and hit a game-winning 3-pointer after grabbing a rebound on his own missed free throw to get the win. He sent Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Knicks into overtime with a buzzer-beating jumper after the Pacers trailed by 14 points with just 2:15 to play. And in Game 1 of Finals, he hit a game-winning jumper with 0.3 seconds left after the Pacers trailed by 14 with 8:58 left.
But in Game 7, he wasn't available for another comeback and the Pacers had to watch blue and orange confetti come down around them as they went back to see him in the locker room.
"He authored one of the great individual playoff runs in the history of the NBA with dramatic play after dramatic play," Carlisle said. "It was just something that no one's ever seen and did it as 1 of 17. You know, that's the beautiful thing about him. As great a player as he is, it's always a team thing. And so, our hearts go out to him."
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