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Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder was shaping up to be quite the barnburner. They were throwing jabs back and forth as early as the first few minutes of the first quarter, with Tyrese Haliburton seemingly putting his calf strain in the rearview mirror after nailing three threes in the early goings to give Indiana a slim lead. However, it all came crashing down for the Pacers, with Haliburton suffering an Achilles injury, culminating in Indiana running out of steam in the second half en route to a 103-91 defeat.
The NBA Finals loss was already heartbreaking enough as it is. Given how competitive the NBA is, there are no guarantees as to whether or not they'll be able to make it back to this grand stage of the playoffs. But what's even more soul-crushing is the fact that Haliburton looks likely to miss the majority of next season too, which would require the Pacers to thread the eye of the needle just to mount a deep playoff run, let alone win an NBA championship.
Just to further show how much the Pacers missed Haliburton down the stretch, he ended up still leading all players for made threes on the night, with three (as pointed out by Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team). Indiana, which was running out of offensive juice in the third quarter, could have used his floor-spacing abilities and playmaking nous to overcome a suffocating Thunder defense. Instead, they got swallowed whole, with TJ McConnell's heroics proving to be nothing more than a footnote in the end.
Haliburton simply did what every competitor would do in his situation. He risked life and limb just to help the Pacers achieve the ultimate goal, but in the end, his body succumbed to injury. He fought valiantly, however, and deserves his flowers all the same for trying his best, which is just about everything anyone could every ask out of him.
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Tyrese Haliburton's injury clouds the Pacers' future
The Pacers showed that they can remain competitive even with Haliburton on the mend. But they miss his passing, composure at the point of attack, as well as his three-point pull-up threat, and this would make it difficult for the Pacers to even come close to replicating what they did this past season.
But for now, Haliburton's recovery from injury will be the Pacers' number-one priority as they try to grieve what could have been.
