If your heart didn’t drop to the pit of your stomach with the words “oh f#@k…” coming out of your mouth when seeing Tyrese Haliburton smack the hardwood as he screamed back at one of the Indiana Pacers’ trainers with tears swelling in his eyes and a face of desperation, knowing that he’d just torn something serious in his lower leg, then you clearly don’t love basketball (or are a sociopath). It’s a situation you never want to see happen on the basketball court, especially in a Game 7 of the NBA Finals. 

Irrespective of the team you’re rooting for, seeing a player go down like that is a dispiriting moment for a competitive game. It most definitely sucked some of the air out from even a raucous Paycom Centre crowd, at least for a moment as everybody’s thoughts were on the star Pacers player who’d just left the arena, hobbling on one foot and having to be carried by his teammates and trainers. It’s even more disheartening when you read stats that showcase how Indiana rarely loses a game when Haliburton scores 20 or more points. He had nine in just seven minutes of play before going down. 

Nevertheless, the Pacers stuck with it. Siakam could be seen galvanizing their squad during a timeout shortly after Hali’s exit, and they traded blows with OKC for the remainder of the first half. Unfortunately for Indiana, Oklahoma came out of halftime with a clear game plan that utterly dismantled and shut down Indiana’s offence. To the point where the only player to score for almost the entire third quarter was an energized T.J. McConnell. That, combined with a befuddling decision by coach Carlisle that included sitting Pascal for almost the entirety of the latter half of the third quarter (seriously, what?), resulted in OKC slowly but surely taking a commanding lead.

One could say that had Haliburton been on the court and continued his aggressive play, the Pacers could have come out on top. An obvious statement, of course, though seeing OKC’s dominant performance in the second half, I’m not so sure if even with Haliburton, the Pacers had what it took to take down OKC. This is all speculative, of course, and clearly Carlisle and his coaching staff devised plays for the second half that exploited Hali’s absence. 

In truth, the unfortunate part is that we lost what could have been a nail-biter of a Game 7. This was already an unexpected turn of events as nobody, myself included, was expecting Indiana to stretch this series to six games, let alone seven. The tenacity and energy this squad had played with throughout this post-season was incredibly exciting to watch. From Tyrese re-iconizing Reggie Miller’s “choke” to his team’s multiple late-game comebacks during this postseason, it was quite the ride. Then to have that energy and morale stricken away by such an unfortunate injury, one that could potentially see Haliburton out for all of next season if an Achilles injury is to be believed, is truly devastating. Here’s hoping this roster sticks together until their star’s return to full form. 

With all that said, here’s to the deserving champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and my fellow Canadian, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, for a historic season. This has been one heck of an interesting team to watch, and I look forward to seeing if this young roster has what it takes to get back to the finals next season.