Heartbreak In Game 7: NBA Championship Undone by Devastating Tyrese Haliburton Injury

Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton’s first-quarter injury immediately changed the complexion of Sunday’s Game 7 title decider.

That’s basketball. But that was brutal, too.

It was billed as an NBA Game 7 for the ages, a highly unexpected showdown, for certain—the Indiana Pacers pushing the heavy-favorite Oklahoma City Thunder to a do-or-die championship decider Sunday night.

With 4:55 left in the first quarter, it became something very different: a heartbreaker.

That’s when Indiana’s best player and leader, Tyrese Haliburton, fell to the court while driving to the basket, his lower right leg quivering with what appeared to be the classic presentation of an Achilles injury.

Haliburton’s father, John, later told ESPN that indeed was the case.

Haliburton’s emotional reaction—he immediately began slapping the floor with a hand—said everything you needed to know. Stunned teammates crowded around. Haliburton would hobble toward the locker room, towel on his head, left arm draped around veteran teammate James Johnson, done for the night, the series, and likely, much, much more.

The nightmare: Pacer down.

Not just a Pacer, but the dynamo who stirred this outrageous Indiana playoff run, a speedy, unselfish guard with a habit of winning games with ridiculous, high-arcing shots.

Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton hobbles towards the locker room after collapsing to the court during the first quarter.

Haliburton had been dealing with calf injury on the same right leg—his health was the central drama in the back half of this extended series—but he looked good to start Game 7, hitting 3 of 4 3-pointers.

“He gave us everything,” his teammate Pascal Siakam later said. “Everything he had.”

Indiana tried to rally, and they kept it close until halftime, but in the third quarter, the Thunder began pulling away. There were a few flashes of that Indiana comeback magic—TJ McConnell had another TJ McConnell small-bodied outburst—but the swarming Thunder kept frustrating the Pacers with offensive rebounds and turnovers and ultimately prevailed, 103-91.

Injuries are part of sports, of course. Haliburton, just 25, is far from the first star to go down at a major moment. But his departure instantly changed the vibe of what is ordinarily a thrilling night. It felt crushing, even bigger than the title game at hand.

This is not the story of a bully triumphant, however.

The Thunder, rebranded from the Sonics after moving from Seattle in 2008, have won their first title in Oklahoma City. This is a smartly-run, patient franchise defying the idea that contenders can’t be built in a small market. The Thunder have a good coach (Mark Daigneault), a young core and a low-key, likable Finals MVP (and league MVP) in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. They play team-oriented, pressure basketball and won an absurd 84 games in the regular season (68) and playoffs (16), tying them with the Michael Jordan-era 1996-97 Bulls for the third-most ever.

If anything, OKC’s going to get better. Watch out.

The Oklahoma City Thunder celebrate their first title since relocating from Seattle in 2008.

As for Indiana, it’s devastating to get so close and then have to try to win short-handed. This injury didn’t just color Game 7 — it changed the complexion of the Pacers’ future. Indiana hasn’t confirmed Haliburton’s status, but if it’s indeed his Achilles as his father said, that is a prolonged recovery. It’s possible he’s not playing for a year.

In the aftermath there are questions about what’s going on—prior to Haliburton falling out, two other NBA stars, Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard, went down with Achilles injuries in the playoffs, torpedoing both the Celtics and Bucks futures, too. The entire Eastern Conference could be up in the air.

Is the league playing too much basketball? Are 82 regular season games followed by repeated Best-of-7 series too much to ask? This is not the first time we’ve seen a Finals impacted like this—in 2019, Kevin Durant, then of Golden State, suffered a similar-looking injury sequence, a bad calf into a torn Achilles. He missed a full season.

Is this a random series of unfortunate events, or is something broader happening with player health and the relentless pace of the modern game? Haliburton clearly took a risk playing injured Sunday. But it’s what he wanted—and it’s what the game expects.

Does the NBA and its player membership need to take a longer view and dial back the workload? Fewer games, of course, could mean fewer dollars.

Jayson Tatum is another star whose playoffs were cut short by a serious injury.

I’ve never seen the aftermath of a championship game covered like this. Usually the script is written by the winners. The losing Pacers got as much attention from the TV cameras as the winning Thunder did. There were extended shots of Haliburton leaning over a pair of crutches, consoling his returning teammates. Retired Pacer legend Reggie Miller held an emotional McConnell as the latter left the floor.

I can understand Thunder fans thinking: Hey didn’t we just win a World Championship?

But the Pacers clearly made an impact. A pronounced underdog, repeatedly winning upsets, often via buzzer beaters, will assemble a loyal following.

Indiana showed what it was about in Game 7’s final quarter. This contest was effectively over—the Thunder pushed the lead beyond 20—and the minus-Haliburton offense was too ragged to launch an extended threat.

But they kept pushing, picking up the Thunder for full-court defense, nicking away, refusing to roll over.

“It was symbolic of what this team stands for, what basketball in Indiana stands for,” said a proud Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle. “There was no surrender.”

There wasn’t. There was no quit.

Still, for Indiana and Tyrese Haliburton, it’s a heartbreak—heading into a long summer.