Indiana Pacersstar guard Tyrese Haliburton fell to the court in pain during the first quarter of the 103-91 loss to theOklahoma City Thunderon Sunday, June 22, in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Haliburton had been playing through a right calf injury, but his prognosis became worse when ESPN's Lisa Salters reported Haliburton hadsuffered an Achilles injuryon the play that ended his season. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle could not confirm a diagnosis for Haliburton during his postgame press conference in Oklahoma City. But he did give some insight into his reaction to the injury. "I'm not talking about his injury," Carlisle said. "I'm not giving you — I have no idea. I haven't heard anything about a diagnosis or anything." Haliburton was seen on crutchesafter the game as he greeted his teammates near the locker room. "What happened with Tyrese, all of our hearts dropped," Carlisle said. "He will be back. I don't have any medical information about what may or may not have happened, but he'll be back in time, and I believe he'll make a full recovery." Haliburton interacted with the team in the locker room at halftime and was praised by Carlisle after the game. "He authored one of the great individual playoff runs in the history of the NBA with dramatic play after dramatic play," Carlisle said. "It was just something that no one's ever seen and did it as 1 of 17. You know, that's the beautiful thing about him. As great a player as he is, it's always a team thing." Haliburton was the Pacers' spark plug throughout the NBA playoffs, dazzling with a bevy of clutch shots, skillful scoring and late-game heroics. Haliburton averaged 17.7 points, 9.0 assists and 5.6 rebounds in 22 postseason games this season. He had nine points when he exited in the first quarter — all on 3-pointers — and his absence was felt as the Thunder pulled away in the third quarter to erase the 48-47 Pacers lead at halftime. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Rick Carlisle talks Tyrese Haliburton injury after Pacers fall in Finals
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