Indiana Pacers gamers and Rick Carlisle addressed the affect of dropping Tyrese Haliburton early of their 103-91 loss to the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder in Recreation 7 of the NBA Finals.
Haliburton, who suffered an Achilles harm, stood on crutches outdoors the locker room and embraced his teammates following the loss.
“All of our hearts dropped,” mentioned Carlisle when he first noticed Haliburton on the bottom.
Haliburton, who had 9 factors on the time of the harm, acknowledged on Saturday that his leg was “nonetheless stiff, nonetheless sore” from Thursday’s Recreation 6.
Haliburton watched the remainder of the sport from the locker room and remained a vocal presence at halftime with the Pacers main 48-47.
“That is simply who Ty is,” T.J. McConnell mentioned. “To go down like that, be selfless and simply persevering with to cheer for us. Although he cannot play, I believe that simply speaks volumes to who Tyrese Haliburton is, one of many biggest human beings I’ve are available in contact with.”
Obi Toppin, who shot 0-4 from the sector, admitted that he was “fascinated about it the entire recreation.”
The Pacers didn’t present some other details about Haliburton’s standing on Sunday evening.
Haliburton averaged 17.7 factors and 9.0 assists all through the playoffs, whereas setting a franchise document with 197 postseason assists.
“He authored one of many nice particular person playoff runs within the historical past of the NBA with dramatic play after dramatic play,” Carlisle added. “It was one thing that nobody’s ever seen and did it as one in all 17. You realize, that is the attractive factor about him: As nice a participant as he’s, it is at all times a workforce factor.”
