Haliburton damage casts shadow on Pacers’ future after NBA Finals loss

June 23 – The #Indiana Pacers not solely got here up quick within the decisive seventh sport of the NBA Finals but additionally misplaced star participant #Tyrese Haliburton to an damage that might in the end see the group miss out on their championship window.

Haliburton had a trio of three-pointers in Sunday’s sport at Oklahoma City when he immediately crumpled to the ground in ache with a decrease leg damage that left him pounding his proper hand on the court docket late within the first quarter.

The severity of the damage has not been made official by the Pacers however Haliburton’s father shared throughout a broadcast of the sport that it was an #Achilles tendon damage, which might hold the face of the franchise out for all or a lot of the 2025-26 season.

“What happened with Tyrese, all of our hearts dropped,” mentioned Pacers head coach #Rick Carlisle.

“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.”

Indiana, who traded for Haliburton in 2022, had been positioned for a roughly three-year window with a core group that included gamers like #Pascal Siakam and #Andrew Nembhard.

The Pacers, chasing their first NBA title, reached the penultimate spherical of the NBA playoffs final 12 months because the sixth seed within the Eastern Conference and loved one other deep postseason run this 12 months because the fourth seed.

The 25-year-old Haliburton performed a pivotal position all through the 2025 playoffs and dazzled with a slew of clutch pictures and late-game heroics that turned near-certain Pacers losses into victories and bought them into their first NBA Finals since 2000.

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Now, nevertheless, the group enter an unsure highway forward given the problem of changing somebody like Haliburton, a two-times NBA All-Star and the group’s Most worthy participant.

“He did some incredible things, like this whole playoff run and this year, and yeah, like I’m just super proud of him,” mentioned Siakam.

“Obviously, it hurts as a result of we could not get it accomplished, and I wished it so dangerous for him simply because I do know that he gave us every part, , every part he had. It simply hurts that he could not see it via with us.

“But just incredibly proud of him, and everything he’s accomplished. And I know, you know, there’s more. There’s more coming.”

Despite the setback, Haliburton, who’s the engine of the Pacers, was there on crutches and sporting a particular boot after the ultimate buzzer to greet his teammates as they walked off the ground following their 103-91 loss.

“Doesn’t surprise me at all,” mentioned Pacers guard T.J. McConnell. “That’s who he’s as an individual, a teammate. He put his ego apart always. He might have been within the locker room feeling sorry for himself after one thing like that occurred, however he wasn’t.

“A lot of us were hurting from the loss and he was up there consoling us. That’s who #Tyrese Haliburton is. He’s just the greatest, man.”

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