Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton suffered a torn right Achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night, the team announced on Monday.
The Pacers conducted an MRI on Monday to confirm the injury and the 25-year-old is now scheduled for surgery later the same day.
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.
The Pacers quickly ruled out Haliburton for the rest of Game 7 with what 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. Even Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander quickly went over, touched Haliburton on the head as the Pacers guard lay face-down on the court and offered a kind word.
After the loss, Haliburton was seen on crutches, greeting and consoling his teammates outside the locker room.
“All of our hearts dropped," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said after. “But he will be back.”
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 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.”
-- With files from the Associated Press
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.