Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton suffers lower right leg injury in Game 7 of NBA Finals

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton was starting a move toward the basket, and his right leg didn’t seem to move with him.

And the ensuing scene was heartbreaking for the Pacers.

Haliburton — who was playing with a strained right calf — tumbled to the court in a heap, immediately began punching the floor in frustration and needed to be helped to the locker room in Game 7 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night.

The Pacers quickly determined that Haliburton would be ruled out for the rest of Game 7 with a lower right leg injury, and replays appeared to show something popping in the back of his leg. The injury happened with 4:55 left in the first quarter.

Haliburton put no weight on the leg and had his face wrapped in towels as he was taken to the Pacers’ locker room for evaluation. Virtually the entire Indiana playing, coaching and medical staff surrounded him on the court once he got hurt.

“It’s a heartbreak, man,” Pacers center Myles Turner told ABC during an in-game interview after the opening period. “It’s unfortunate ... but we’ve got his back.”

Haliburton, who had been dealing with leg issues in the series and had the calf issue flare up in Game 5, had been getting all sorts of treatment to get the calf in good enough shape for him to play in the last two games of the NBA Finals. He played well in Game 6, and Game 7 started promisingly — with Haliburton making three deep 3-pointers.

And then he was gone.

“I think I have to be as smart as I want to be,” Haliburton said before Game 6 last week. “Have to understand the risks, ask the right questions. I’m a competitor. I want to play. I’m going to do everything in my power to play. That’s just what it is.”

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