Tyrese Haliburton tried to gut things out and play in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday. It ended up costing him with a serious injury.
Haliburton exited Game 7 of the Finals between his Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., during the first quarter. Haliburton went down with a non-contact injury. It was very clear from videos that Haliburton’s Achilles tendon had popped, causing him to go down and pound the floor in anger.
About as clear an achilles rupture you will see on video for Tyrese Haliburton here – classic pushing off mechanism & clear pop through calf.
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) June 23, 2025
Will require surgery & >9 month recovery, feel for him in such a big game.pic.twitter.com/hqFns4zKcr
ABC later reported that Haliburton’s father confirmed his son had suffered an Achilles injury in the game.
Haliburton was trying to play through a calf strain. If it weren’t the NBA Finals or a serious playoff game, he would have been resting to heal the injury. Instead, he tried to play through it and ended up with a significant injury. If this storyline sounds familiar, it’s because the same thing happened with Kevin Durant when he tried to play through a calf injury during the 2019 NBA Finals and ended up suffering a torn Achilles tendon.
Haliburton had 9 points in 7 minutes prior to suffering his injury.
