Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton Suffered Torn Achilles, Expected To Miss All Of Next Season

Indiana Pacers star point guard Tyrese Haliburton suffered a torn right Achilles during Game 7 of the Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, per Shams Charania of ESPN.

Sources told Hoops Wire early Monday morning that they suspect Haliburton will miss all of next season.

Haliburton hit multiple clutch shots, including a game-winner in Game 1, steering the Pacers to their first Finals berth in 25 years, and just their second of their NBA era.

“Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers authored one of most thrilling playoffs in NBA history,” Charania wrote. “An unbelievable run.”

The Pacers lost Game 7 in Oklahoma City, 103-91, with Haliburton exiting in the first quarter. He scored nine points on 3-of-5 shooting before the injury.

“It’s heart-breaking, man,” Pacers reserve center Thomas Bryant said after the game, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “You never want to see that with any of our players, especially with Ty. He’s the heart and soul of our team. He’s our point guard. He’s our point god, you know? We all gathered around each other when he went down and said we’re trying to do this for him, man. And it just sucks that we couldn’t get that accomplished.”

For the season, Haliburton averaged 18.6 points, 9.2 assists and shot 38.8 percent on 3-pointers in 72 games. He appeared in all 23 postseason games and compiled averages of 17.3 points and 8.6 assists.

Indiana finished as the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference after a 10-15 start. But the Pacers finished 50-32, then beat the Miilwaukee Bucks, top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks on their way to the Finals.

Haliburton is expected to travel to New York on Monday to prepare for surgery on his Achilles, per Grant Afseth of RG.org.