INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tyrese Haliburton jumped into the passing lane for a steal and tiptoed his way along the sideline before spinning and throwing a no-look pass to Pascal Siakam for a dunk over a pair of Oklahoma City defenders.
And then he stopped to slap a few hands of well-wishers in the crowd.
Not bad for a guy playing on one good leg.
Haliburton’s Game 6 of the NBA Finals ended early — and that was a very good thing for the Indiana Pacers. Playing with a strained right calf, Haliburton had 14 points in just 23 minutes and the Pacers rolled past the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-91 on Thursday night to send the NBA Finals to Game 7.
WHAT A SEQUENCE ?
Tyrese Haliburton picks it off and sends a spinning no-look dime cross-court to Pascal Siakam, who absolutely PUNISHES the rim ? pic.twitter.com/JNJ4FwyeAc
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) June 20, 2025
Haliburton has been dealing with lower leg issues throughout the series and the calf strain flared up in Game 5 on Monday night. He played through it for the final three quarters of that loss to the Thunder, though he basically stopped looking to shoot in the second half.
He missed his first four shots on Thursday, too. And then, he somehow got back to normal. Jumping, cutting, shooting from 30 feet and twisting in the air at times, he looked nothing like the guy who left Game 5 limping so badly that it seemed like he was dragging his right leg behind him.
The fact that he played at all was a boost to the Pacers. Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said Haliburton went through a walkthrough Thursday afternoon along with strength testing, passing all necessary checks.
So, with the Pacers facing elimination in Game 6 and down 3-2 in the title series, Haliburton — who was on the court and did some shooting not long before Carlisle announced the decision — planned to give it a shot.
“He’s going to play and that’s it,” Carlisle said.
It was no surprise to the Thunder.
“He’s a great player,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said before the game. “If there’s one thing we know, you don’t underestimate great players. In this situation, we’re expecting his best punch. Indiana is a great team. We’re expecting their best punch. I have no doubt he’s dealing with stuff, but we’re expecting him to come out and play like a great player would play.”
Daigneault, to his dismay, couldn’t have been more right.
Haliburton acknowledged Wednesday that, if this was the regular season, he likely wouldn’t be attempting to play through such an injury.
“I think I have to be as smart as I want to be,” Haliburton said. “Have to understand the risks, ask the right questions. I’m a competitor. I want to play. I’m going to do everything in my power to play. That’s just what it is.”
Game 7, here we come
Game 7, the first one in the NBA Finals since 2016, will be Sunday night in Oklahoma City. Good news for the Thunder: home teams are 15-4 in the ultimate game to decide a title. Bad news for the Thunder: Cleveland won at Golden State in the most recent NBA Finals Game 7 and one of the three other home-team losses was in 1978 — by Seattle, the franchise that would move to Oklahoma City three decades later.
Indiana missed its first eight shots and got down 10-2. The arena, roaring just a few minutes before at the start, quieted quickly. Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, sitting courtside in a Jalen Rose Pacers jersey, was pacing, kneeling, generally acting more nervous than he ever seemed as a player.
No need.
After the slow start, the Pacers outscored the Thunder 68-32 over the next 24 minutes. An Indiana team that hadn’t led by more than 10 points at any time in the first five games — and that double-digit lead was brief — led by 28 early in the third quarter. The margin eventually got to 31, which was Oklahoma City’s second-biggest deficit of the season.
The worst also came in these playoffs: a 45-point hole against Minnesota in the Western Conference finals. The Thunder came back to win that series, obviously, and now will need that bounce-back ability one more time.
The Thunder, desperate for a spark, put Alex Caruso in the starting lineup in place of Isaiah Hartenstein to open the second half. There was no spark. In fact, there was nothing whatsoever — neither team scored in the first 3:53 after halftime, the sides combining to miss their first 13 shots of the third quarter.
TJ McConnell, the spark off the bench again, finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Indiana.
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