By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Tyrese Haliburton suffered the worst injury in his five-year NBA career after the Indiana Pacers confirmed that he was diagnosed with a torn right Achilles tendon injury on June 24, 2025.
The injury came at the most unfortunate time, when Haliburton was looking to deliver the first-ever NBA championship title to the Indiana franchise in Game 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
With only five minutes into the ball game, Haliburton went down grimacing in pain via a non-contact motion when he attempted to drive past the Oklahoma defense.
When the screens focused on Haliburton, the superstar floor general was emotional, lying on the floor, and had to be escorted out of the playing court to receive further assessment in the locker room.
Indiana’s franchise player never returned to the game, resulting in a title-clinching 103-91 Game 7 victory for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder.
The Pacers were quick to reveal that Haliburton tore his right Achilles tendon and added that he is bound to go under the knife and begin rehabilitation next month.
“Tyrese Haliburton suffered an injury to his right Achilles tendon during last night’s game at Oklahoma City. An MRI taken today that confirmed he tore his right Achilles tendon,” the Pacers verified on their social media account.
Losing Haliburton became Indiana’s initial test in Game 7 as their court general was already shooting the lights out, erupting for nine points in just seven minutes that forced Oklahoma head coach Mark Daigneault to call an early emergency timeout.
However, the next sequences became a nightmare for the Eastern Conference kings when the official locker room report said that he wouldn’t be returning in the final game of the season.
Indiana kept up with Oklahoma’s pace in the first half and even took a one-point lead heading to the third but the newly-crowned NBA champions stepped on the gas pedal in the final two quarters to officially leave the Pacers behind with a comfortable double-digit lead.
Without Haliburton, Indiana failed to restore order in the fourth and conceded Game 7 when head coach Rick Carlisle pulled out all of his starters with only a minute remaining.
Haliburton was the maestro of Indiana’s three insane playoff comebacks against the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the New York Knicks.
In all of those games, Haliburton’s clutch shot-making steered the Pacers to miraculous outcomes when they completed three come-from-behind dubs despite trailing by eight points in under 55 seconds.
What the Pacers did in those nerve-wracking wins will forever be etched in NBA history, as they became the first team to pull off those victories, all in the playoffs.
