Tyrese Haliburton's epic 2025 NBA playoff run came to a devastating end when he suffered an achilles injury early in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Haliburton got off to a hot start as he looked to lead the Indiana Pacers to their first NBA championship, hitting three three-point attempts early on before going down with the achilles injury during the first quarter.
In clear pain, Haliburton had to be helped off the court and into the locker room. He was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the game, losing the opportunity to help the Pacers try to win the title in the final game of the season. After the game, Haliburton was seen on crutches.
Though the Pacers managed to keep the game close into the third quarter, the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled away by the end of the third quarter and went on to win the championship.
Indiana and Haliburton's season ended in absolutely heartbreaking fashion, but after the loss, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle praised Haliburton for putting in an all-time performance during their improbable postseason run.
"What happened with Tyrese, just all of our hearts dropped," Carlisle told reporters. "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. I believe he'll make a full recovery. He authored one of the great individual playoff runs in the history of the NBA with dramatic play after dramatic play. It was just something that no one's ever seen, and did it as one of 17. That's the beautiful thing about him. As great of a player as he is, it's always a team thing. Our hearts go out to him."
"What happened with Tyrese, all of our hearts dropped... He authored one of the great individual Playoff runs in the history of the NBA." 🗣️
— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 23, 2025
Rick Carlisle sends best wishes to Tyrese Haliburton while expressing pride for the run Hali & the Pacers had this postseason 🙏 pic.twitter.com/eK83EtHfAv
Though he wasn't able to close out his postseason run and perhaps cap it off with a championship due to the injury, Haliburton truly put in an unforgettable performance. Haliburton was remarkably clutch, hitting a game-winning basket in each round of the postseason, including in Game 1 of their NBA Finals series against the Thunder. With Haliburton at the lead, the Pacers always believed they could come back, which they did multiple times by erasing double digit deficits during the playoffs this year.
What Haliburton could have done in Game 7 had he not gotten injured will remain a "what if," but it still doesn't take away from the incredible clutch performances he put in through every round of the postseason.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Rick Carlisle Had Touching Message About Tyrese Haliburton After Achilles Injury.
