'All of our hearts dropped.' Rick Carlisle says Pacers' thoughts are with Tyrese Haliburton

Indianapolis Star

4 hours ago

OKLAHOMA CITY – Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle had no update on All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton's lower right leg injury after the Pacers' 103-91 loss to the Thunder in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, but he acknowledged the team's feeling of heartbreak for his injury and appreciation for all Haliburton did to get the Pacers as far as they did.
"What happened with Tyrese, all of our hearts dropped," Carlisle said. "But 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, and I believe he'll make a full recovery.
"So, 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 1 of 17. You know, that's the beautiful thing about him. As great a player as he is, it's always a team thing. And so, our hearts go out to him."
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Haliburton's father John told Lisa Salters of ABC and ESPN that the injury was an Achilles tendon injury. The Pacers have only confirmed it as a lower right leg injury to this point. If he has an Achilles tendon tear as feared, the team would likely wait for an MRI to confirm it and the injury could keep him out for 8-10 months.
Carlisle said Haliburton was still in the locker room at halftime and spoke to the team to try to keep their spirits high.
"He was in the locker room," Carlisle said, "and he was very much a part of a group that believed that they could do this."
Haliburton was named third team All-NBA this season for a second straight year and then hit either game-winning or game-tying shots in historically improbable comeback wins in each of the Pacers' four playoff series — Game 5 against Milwaukee, Game 2 against Cleveland, Game 1 against New York and Game 1 against Oklahoma City. He suffered a right calf strain in Game 5 of the Finals against the Thunder but went through around-the-clock treatment to be ready in Game 6 and Game 7.
Haliburton said he was aware continuing to play posed a risk of a worse injury, but said he intended to play as long as he could walk. He posted 14 points and five assists in the Pacers' Game 6 win over the Thunder to force a Game 7 and looked even healthier to start the game Sunday and scored nine points with three 3-pointers in the game's first seven minutes. However, he fell down while attempting to drive with 4:55 to go and had to be carried off the floor with no ability to put weight on his right leg. The Pacers kept the game close through the second quarter and had a 48-47 halftime lead, but were outscored 34-20 in the third quarter and didn't recover.
"Nembhard hit the shot at the end of the first half to give us a one-point lead, and you know, we needed to come out of the locker room and be better in the first five minutes of the third quarter," Carlisle said. "We just weren't. I don't have the whole sequence of events but they made some great plays. We got off to a slow start, and that quarter was the killer.
"To me, the fourth quarter, the effort that our guys poured into the fourth quarter to win the quarter by one point was epic, and it was symbolic of what this team stands for what basketball in Indiana stands for, and there was no surrender. It was just, you know it, was all defiant fight until the end."