Indiana Pacers players and Rick Carlisle addressed the impact of losing Tyrese Haliburton early in their 103-91 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Haliburton, who suffered an Achilles injury, stood on crutches outside the locker room and embraced his teammates following the loss.
“All of our hearts dropped,” said Carlisle when he first saw Haliburton on the ground.
Haliburton, who had nine points at the time of the injury, acknowledged on Saturday that his leg was “still stiff, still sore” from Thursday’s Game 6.
Haliburton watched the rest of the game from the locker room and remained a vocal presence at halftime with the Pacers leading 48-47.
“That’s just who Ty is,” T.J. McConnell said. “To go down like that, be selfless and just continuing to cheer for us. Even though he can’t play, I think that just speaks volumes to who Tyrese Haliburton is, one of the greatest human beings I’ve come in contact with.”
Obi Toppin, who shot 0-4 from the field, admitted that he was “thinking about it the whole game.”
The Pacers did not provide any other information about Haliburton’s status on Sunday night.
Haliburton averaged 17.7 points and 9.0 assists throughout the playoffs, while setting a franchise record with 197 postseason assists.
“He authored one of the great individual playoff runs in the history of the NBA with dramatic play after dramatic play,” Carlisle added. “It was something that no one’s ever seen and did it as one of 17. You know, that’s the beautiful thing about him: As great a player as he is, it’s always a team thing.”