The absolute worst case scenario happened in the first quarter of Game 7 for Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers.
After bravely playing through a calf injury that had limited him severely in Game 5, Haliburton played well in Game 6 in a blowout Pacers victory after being called out by Kendrick Perkins and Stephen A. Smith during halftime of the previous game.
In Game 7, Tyrese Haliburton started brilliantly with 9 points on 3-4 shooting from three-point range. But then with five minutes left in the first quarter and the score tied at 16-16, Haliburton started to drive to the basket and his leg gave way.
The star point guard who has put together a historic postseason of one clutch performance after another was in obvious pain and it was immediately clear from his reaction and the reaction of his teammates that the worst had happened and he had suffered a serious injury.
ESPN’s Mike Breen immediately captured the gravity of the moment.
While it’s too soon to speculate what exactly happened to Tyrese Haliburton, many members of the sports media including former athletes drew a comparison to what we saw earlier in the postseason when Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum tore his achilles late in a game against the New York Knicks.
Given Haliburton’s playoff performances, playing through injury, and the Game 7 stage, it was one of the most heartbreaking things that we’ve seen happen on the court in quite some time.
From a sporting level, Tyrese Haliburton suffering that injury is devastating for the Indiana Pacers and the NBA. His star turn this postseason has vaulted him into one of the most well-known players in the league. And if it is a serious injury and he has to miss an extended amount of time next season or perhaps the whole campaign, it will put a severe damper on the Pacers’ hopes of making it back to the NBA Finals again next season.
And on a personal level, Haliburton has had to hear the criticism about his Game 5 performance even as he was gutting it out and playing through injury. He’s also had to hear the talk about being one of the most overrated players in the league in spite of leading his team to the NBA Finals and possessing one of the most unique skill sets in the NBA.
And seeing him take on that risk and play through that pain knowing that what happened in a Game 7 was always a possibility is an incredible amount of courage and conviction.