In the middle of the first quarter of Game 5 of the 2025 NBA Finals on Monday, Tyrese Haliburton got Chet Holmgren on a switch and used a series of crossovers to try and shake the big man. When Haliburton finally started to drive into the lane, he managed just two steps before he stumbled to the ground and threw the ball away.
A short time later, Haliburton left the game and went to the locker room to have his right calf examined. He was diagnosed with calf tightness, and eventually returned to action, but was ineffective in the Pacers‘ 120-109 defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder, which has put them on the brink of elimination.
Haliburton did not make a single field goal in his 34 minutes of action, and finished with four points, seven rebounds and six assists on 0-for-6 shooting from the field. This was the first time in Haliburton’s career that he failed to make a shot in a playoff game, and his four points tied his postseason low.
“He’s not 100%, it’s pretty clear,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “But I don’t think he’s gonna miss the next game. We were concerned at halftime and he insisted on playing. I thought he made a lot of really good things happen in the second half, but he’s not 100%.”
After falling behind by 18 points late in the first half, the Pacers again worked their magic coming out of the break. TJ McConnell was tremendous in the third quarter to get Indiana within single digits heading into the fourth, and with 8:30 remaining, Pascal Siakam hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to two.
You could feel the tension inside the Paycom Center, as the Thunder fans worried about a repeat of Game 1, when Haliburton capped off a stunning Pacers comeback with a last-second game-winner. There were no such heroics from Haliburton on Monday.
Over the next few minutes, Haliburton miscommunicated with Andrew Nembhard, which led to a fastbreak bucket for the Thunder, committed a soft foul on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, which turned another run out into an and-one and threw a pass away, which led to a Jalen Williams bucket.
In the less than three minutes, the Thunder’s lead ballooned back up to 13, and the contest was essentially over. All of the elements were there for another miraculous Pacers comeback except for the most important one: their best player being at 100%.
“I mean it’s the NBA Finals,” Haliburton said of his desire to play through the pain. “It’s the Finals. I’ve worked my whole life to be here. It was not really a thought of mine to not play here. If I can walk, then I want to play.”
As frustrating as this defeat was for Haliburton and the Pacers, the bigger concern is his status moving forward. The Pacers now face a must-win Game 6 back at home on Thursday. Based on how the prior games have gone in Indianapolis, they would feel confident about getting the result they need to force Game 7. But only if Haliburton can be himself.
If Haliburton is limited and looks like he did on Monday, it’s hard to see how the Pacers find a way to win. One thing is for certain, though: regardless of how Haliburton feels, he and his teammates are going to give it their all to keep their season alive.
“I think the fight is always going to be there from this group,” Haliburton said. “We’ve shown that when our backs are against the wall, we have many different guys that can chip in. We have shown that we are always going to fight.
“Going home, there’s not a better opportunity than to fight on your home floor. So that’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s going to be a lot of fun playing a win-or-go-home game at our home.”
