Is the Pacers’ chance at the finals lost?
The 2025 NBA finals that started on June 5th seemed like an even matchup from the start, but in the 3rd game, the balance started to tilt. Tyrese Haliburton, the point guard of the Pacers, suffered a massive injury. After an awkward fall in the first quarter of the fifth game of the finals, Haliburton left the game and came back with a wrap on his leg. Because of his injury, Haliburton shot badly, making none of his six attempts from the field.
Despite their poor performance in the 5th game of the finals, the Indiana Pacers were a solid team in the series. They averaged 115.5 points per game and led the league with an average of 27 assists every game. The team also had solid shooting, with Alex Caruso, Aaron Nesmith, and Tyrese Haliburton shooting well in the finals. Nesmith led the league with 57 three-pointers made, and Haliburton was third.
In the fifth game against the Thunder, Haliburton played more than 30 minutes, but only scored four points and six assists. In addition, he also had 7 rebounds and 6 assists. His counterpart, S.G.A, better known as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, had 31 points, 10 assists, 4 blocks, and 2 steals. Due to Haliburton’s poor performance as a point guard, the Pacers lost the fifth game 120 to 109.
After the game, Haliburton shared that the area where he had hurt his leg in game 5 was the same area that he had injured in game 2, causing the damage to be more detrimental to his health than usual. “I was not great tonight by any means, but it’s not really a thought of mine not to play here,” he stated. “If I can walk, then I want to play. They understand that. And it is what it is. Got to be ready to go for Game 6.” The coach of the Pacers, Rick Carlisle, told the reporters that the team discussed if Haliburton should still play at halftime. “Yeah, I got him out early toward the end of the first half for two or three minutes because he just wasn’t moving well,” he stated. “He was tired, too. He got back in and seemed OK. Then, at halftime, we talked about it. … This is a lifetime opportunity. Not many guys are going to sit, even if they are a little banged up. If you’re injured, that’s a different story. But we’ll evaluate everything with Tyrese and see how he wakes up tomorrow.”
Despite his bad performance, Haliburton was optimistic about the game. Haliburton’s recovery will be important to the results of the next game and ultimately, the winner of the 2025 NBA finals.
