Haliburtons

Could Achilles injuries be the Achilles heel of the NBA?

Regardless of allegiance, anyone watching Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday had to be struck by the calamitous impact of the injury to superstar Tyrese Haliburton on the Indiana Pacers.

Haliburton had the ball in the first quarter, took a step backward and began to go left. Pushing off with his right foot, the right tendon tore, and the Pacers chances of defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder were shredded.

“In that moment, my heart dropped for him,” OKC guard and Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander told reporters. “I couldn’t imagine playing the biggest game of my life and something like that happening. It’s not fair.”

It’s also not uncommon. Haliburton was the third superstar lost during the playoffs to an Achilles tear, following Damian Lillard of the Milwaukee Bucks and Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics.

Players who sustained the injury during the regular season include Dejounte Murray of the New Orleans Pelicans, Dru Smith of the Miami Heat and two of Haliburton’s Indiana teammates — Isaiah Jackson and James Wiseman.

Regenerative medicine doctor Jesse Morse pointed out in X posts that the high-grade calf strain Haliburton suffered in Game 5 was a precursor to the Achilles injury.

“Hailburton was playing with fire by playing in Games 6 and 7 after being diagnosed with a high-grade calf strain, an injury that is notoriously slow to heal,” Morse wrote. “There was a significantly increased risk of a possible Achilles tear due to him already having the high-grade calf strain, regardless of what the ‘data shows.’

“We saw it with Kobe Bryant. We saw it with Aaron Rodgers. Likely more. A calf strain lead to an Achilles tear.”

Bryant ruptured his left Achilles on April 12, 2013, after playing every minute of eight consecutive quarters as the Lakers pursued a playoff spot with two games remaining in the regular season. Bryant had suffered injuries to his knees earlier in the game. He returned to action eight months later.

Rodgers tore his left Achilles in his first game as quarterback of the New York Jets on Sept. 11, 2023, shortly after he’d experienced tightness in his calf. He missed the entire season but returned in 2024 at age 41.

The Achilles tendon is a fibrous cord that directs movement from the leg to the foot, connecting muscles from the calf to the heel bone. A sudden explosive movement like running or jumping can cause the tendon to tear or rupture.

The origin of term Achilles stems from the hero of that name in Greek mythology. His mother sought to make him immortal by dipping him into a river that held magical powers. She held him by the heel, however, leaving it vulnerable.

Sure enough, the seemingly eternally brave Achilles was killed by an arrow to his heel during the Trojan War. The Achilles’ heel has been known ever since as a metaphor for a person’s vulnerable spot.

Haliburton certainly displayed a knack for heroics all season, culminating in the jump shot he made with 0.3 seconds to play in Game 1 of the Finals that gave the Pacers a victory over the heavily favored Thunder.

He helped them to reach Game 7 and hit a trio of three-point shots early in the contest only to — alas — crumple to the floor when his Achilles tendon popped. The Thunder prevailed, 103-91.

“We needed Ty out there,” Pacers forward Obi Toppin told reporters. “For him to go down in a game like that, that sucked the soul out of us.”

Anyone who is a fan of the Indiana Pacers or just a basketball enthusiast in general (minus those with a rooting interest in the Oklahoma City Thunder) has probably already watched Tyrese Haliburton‘s latest miracle shot from Thursday’s Game 1 of the NBA Finals many, many times.

Get ready to watch it many, many more times.

The NBA has posted video to social media of Haliburton’s game-winning jumper from South Korea’s broadcast of the game on SPOTV, and the announcers’ call of the magical moment is insane.

Simply put, they lose their minds.

Check it out. Don’t worry if you don’t speak the language — the unbridled enthusiasm coming from what sounds like a two-man broadcast booth requires no translation.

Seriously, the only other person who has ever screamed in such a manner was the Who’s Roger Daltry in the epic climax to the 1971 classic “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”

The NBA also posted a clip of the clutch shot from ABC/ESPN’s coverage of the game. Play-by-play announcer Mike Breen captured the excitement of the moment as well, although with a slightly less epic delivery than his South Korean counterparts.

The Pacers hadn’t led the entire game and trailed the heavily favored Thunder by nine points after Oklahoma City star and league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit a pair of free throws with 2:52 remaining in the fourth quarter. But Indiana clawed back behind five points by Andrew Nembhard down the stretch to set up Haliburton’s shot that lifted his team to a 111-110 win.

It was the fourth time during these playoffs that Haliburton hit a shot in the final two seconds of regulation to either win the game or send it into overtime.

“This group never gives up,” Haliburton said after Game 1. “We never believe that the game is over until it hits zero, and that’s just the God’s honest truth. That’s just the confidence that we have as a group, and I think that’s a big reason why this is going on.”

Tyrese Haliburton’s incredible game-tying shot at the buzzer triggers Indiana Pacers overtime win against New York Knicks in Game 1 of Eastern Conference finals.

Tyrese Haliburton was sure his jumper as regulation ended was going in, then wasn’t certain it had after it bounced high off the rim and hung in the air for what felt like an eternity.

He thought it was a 3-pointer to win the game, then quickly realised it was a 2 to tie. A lot to process, followed by just one thought with overtime looming.

“Then my focus just became winning it,” Haliburton said.

The Pacers did, finishing off their stunning rally by beating the New York Knicks 138-135 in overtime on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The Knicks led by 14 points with under three minutes remaining in regulation, but Aaron Nesmith brought the Pacers back with a flurry of 3-pointers.

Haliburton then hoped he had won it with another. With the Pacers down two and time running down, he started to lose control of his dribble, regained it and dribbled back out toward the 3-point line. He fired up his jumper and when it finally fell in, he raced towards the sideline and made a choke signal to the crowd, like Pacers Hall of Famer Reggie Miller did to Spike Lee while leading an Indiana comeback in a playoff game in 1994.

Replays confirmed that Haliburton’s toe was on the line and it was a 2-pointer that tied it at 125. Andrew Nembhard eventually made the go-ahead basket with 26 seconds remaining in overtime.

Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is on Friday night.

Haliburton had 31 points and 11 assists. Nesmith finished with 30 points, going 8-for-9 from 3-point range.

Knicks stunned by Pacers’ late surge

It was a thrilling start to the ninth playoff matchup between these fierce rivals from the 1990s – but a deflating finish for the Knicks in their first Eastern Conference finals game since 2000.

Jalen Brunson scored 43 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 35 points and 12 rebounds. But the Knicks couldn’t protect the big lead they built while Brunson was on the bench in foul trouble in the fourth quarter and had a collapse unlike any other in the postseason.

Teams leading by at least 14 points in the final 2:45 of the fourth quarter had been 994-0 since detailed play-by-play records began in 1997-98.

“Give them a lot of credit. They closed the game out like they’ve been doing all playoffs,” Brunson said. “Just not really good on our part.”

The Pacers beat the Knicks in Game 7 of the East semifinals at Madison Square Garden last year, routing a team that had been decimated by injuries.

This was an entirely different way to win, with the Pacers looking all but out of the game after the Knicks’ 14-0 run with Brunson on the bench pushed New York’s two-point lead to 108-92.

Even after Nesmith started to get hot, the Knicks seemed safe when Brunson’s 3-pointer made it 119-105 with 2:51 to go.

But Nesmith would later hit consecutive 3s and both free throws when the Knicks fouled him intentionally so he couldn’t try to tie it with another, giving Indiana the chance to tie on Haliburton’s last-second shot.