In sports, everything can change in the blink of an eye. Not only did the Pacers lose Sunday’s Game 7 of the NBA Finals to the Thunder, which would have been Indiana’s first NBA Championship in franchise history, but Pacers’ star point guard Tyrese Haliburton devastatingly went down with a presumed Achilles injury only seven minutes into the game.
There was a clear pop in his calf area that was very hard to watch and Haliburton was screaming in agonizing pain when he suffered the injury. The 25-year-old would miss the rest of the contest and it was reported during the game by ESPN’s Lisa Salters that Haliburton’s father John confirmed to her it was an Achilles injury for Haliburton. It almost certainly will be announced soon that he suffered a ruptured or torn Achilles tendon, and Haliburton should undergo surgery Monday, as it is believed that the quicker you can have surgery for this type of injury, the better the recovery. Dr. Martin O’Malley in New York is a renowned surgeon who repaired Kevin Durant’s Achilles in 2019 and Jayson Tatum’s Achilles last month, and Haliburton’s surgery very likely will be done by O’Malley.
Given Haliburton suffered this major injury so late in the season, the 25-year-old is almost guaranteed to miss all of next season, which is obviously brutal news for the Pacers, who were viewed as one of the true contenders for next season and certainly one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference going forward. Unfortunately, with Haliburton likely out for the entire season, Indiana simply can’t be considered a contender for next season anymore.
This postseason, Haliburton was brilliant, averaging 17.3 points, 8.6 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting 46.3% from the field. The guard led Indiana in plus/minus and he made countless clutch plays in the Pacers’ run to the NBA Finals, which is the first time the franchise has reached the NBA Finals since 2000.
There will be a huge void for the Pacers with Haliburton out and with him sidelined, Andrew Nembhard, Bennedict Mathurin and T.J. McConnell are all going to garner expanded roles for Indiana next season. These players will likely thrive and produce strong numbers, but their efforts likely won’t be enough to overcome Haliburton’s absence. With the star inactive the last two seasons, Indiana owns a mediocre 11-13 record.
In the wake of Haliburton’s major injury, the Pacers’ odds to win the 2025-26 NBA Championship on DraftKings Sportsbook have moved from +1800 prior to this past Sunday’s Game 7 to +8000 on Monday, which are just the 17th-best odds for the championship.
