Tyrese Haliburton tore right Achilles tendon in Game 7 of NBA Finals

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Indiana Pacers confirmed Monday that star Tyrese Haliburton tore his right Achilles tendon in the first quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Finals. The Oklahoma City Thunder went on to win the game and title 103-91.

The team said an MRI confirmed the tear. Haliburton is scheduled to undergo surgery Monday evening with Dr. Martin O’Malley at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

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 Thunder June 22.

John Haliburton, Tyrese’s father, told ABC late in the first half it was an Achilles tendon injury, as the replays of the play clearly indicated. An MRI is still likely to confirm that, but there are simple tests – without a need for imaging – that doctors typically use to determine whether there is a serious injury to the tendon.

Haliburton was outside the locker room, with a walking boot on his right leg, standing on crutches, greeting his teammates as they came off the floor at the end of their season. There were hugs. There were tears.

“Doesn’t surprise me at all,” Pacers guard TJ McConnell said when asked if he was surprised Haliburton was there at the end to console teammates. “That’s who he is as a person, a teammate. He put his ego aside constantly. He could have been in the locker room feeling sorry for himself after something like that happened, but he wasn’t. He was up greeting us. … That’s who Tyrese Haliburton is. He’s just the greatest, man.”

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. Even Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander quickly went over, touched Haliburton on the head as the Pacers guard lay face-down on the court and offered a kind word.

“All of our hearts dropped,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “But he will be back.”

13News had a crew at the Indianapolis International Airport when the team arrived back home early Monday morning. Haliburton was seen in a wheelchair and waved at fans who came out to support the team.

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