The Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder are squaring off in the first Game 7 of the NBA Finals since 2016.
NBA fans were understandably expecting an absolute thriller in a matchup highlighted by Thunder MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Pacers’ All-Star duo of Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam. The game was off to a fiery start for Haliburton, as he nailed two three-pointers early in the first quarter.
Unfortunately, the game quickly took a depressing turn. Haliburton suffered an Achilles injury less than a week after seriously hurting his calf while driving to the basket against Thunder center Chet Holmgren in Game 5. He was immediately filled with emotion after falling and needed help to leave the floor.
LeBron James Shares Reaction to Tyrese Haliburton’s Injury
Everyone in the NBA community is feeling for Haliburton. He’s hit clutch shot after clutch shot in this postseason, improbably leading the No. 5 seed Pacers to the NBA Finals. Indiana fought through the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, and New York Knicks to get to this point, which can be heavily attributed to Haliburton’s clutch gene.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James immediately shared his raw reaction to the injury on his X account.
“F***!!!!!!!!” James posted, with a face-palm emoji and prayer hands emoji.
James has performed on the biggest stage plenty of times throughout his illustrious career and likely understands the emotion that comes with these win-or-go-home games better than most.
Pacers center Myles Turner summed up the moment to near perfection in an interview after the first quarter, saying, “It’s a heartbreak, but we got his back.”
Tyrese Haliburton went down with an injury in Game 7. pic.twitter.com/AZ1uk65dFg
— ESPN (@espn) June 23, 2025
As much as Indiana’s players and coaches would like to hang their heads and grieve for their teammate and friend, the game must continue. Siakam is clearly not afraid of stepping into the leader role for Indiana, as he’s repeatedly been speaking with much emotion to his teammates on the court and on the bench.
What makes the situation more heartbreaking for the NBA community is that Haliburton was so optimistic about his status entering this matchup after successfully playing through the same injury in Game 6 (despite calf strains often sidelining players for several weeks).
“Pretty much the same standpoint I was before Game 6, still a little stiff, a little sore, rather, good thing I only played 23 minutes…” Haliburton said about his injury on Saturday. “I’ll be ready to go for Game 7.”
Haliburton was officially ruled out for the night early in the second quarter, which leaves the Pacers with an even taller task. He finished the game with 9 points on 3-of-4 shooting from three-point range in just seven minutes of action.
