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The Indiana Pacers circled around star point guard Tyrese Haliburton midway through the first quarter of Sunday night’s Game 7 loss in the NBA Finals knowing they would be without their leader following a devastating injury.
“We needed Ty out there … It sucked the soul out of us,” Toppin said. “I ain’t going to say out of everybody. But I don’t feel like I played good because I was thinking about it the whole day and I felt like it was my fault.”
Toppin scored 20 points off the bench for the Pacers, who led at halftime but failed to recover without Haliburton, who scored nine points in seven minutes to open the game with three 3-pointers.
Haliburton’s injury occurred at the top of the key when he attempted to plant his foot on a drive attempt before crashing to the floor in agony, screaming and pounding his fist on the hardwood after the unfortunate result.
“I felt like that was my fault, too,” Toppin said. “Passed the ball to him and … as soon as he went down, that s— hurt. I ain’t gonna lie. I was thinking about that the whole game.”
Haliburton’s father cited an Achilles injury during the broadcast as team personnel helped his son to the locker room. He put no weight on his leg and spent the rest of the night inside the locker room on crutches, before trying to motivate his team at intermission with vocal leadership, per reports.
Haliburton battled through a calf strain in Game 5 to push forward in the series despite being hobbled.
“That’s just who Ty is,” Pacers guard T.J. McConnell said. “To go down like that, be selfless and just continuing to cheer for us. Even though he can’t play, I think that just speaks volumes to who Tyrese Haliburton is, one of the greatest human beings I’ve come in contact with.”
The Oklahoma City Thunder won their first NBA championship in franchise history thanks to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s MVP effort in the second half. The NBA’s regular-season MVP earned the top honor in the Finals as well after finishing with 29 points, five rebounds and 12 assists.
OKC utilized a 19-2 run late in the third quarter to take control of the game, eventually moving out to a 22-point lead before coasting to a 103-91 victory. The home team in NBA Finals Game 7s is now 16-4 all-time.
“It doesn’t feel real,” Gilgeous-Alexander said after the game. “So many hours. So many moments. So many emotions. So many nights of disbelief. So many nights of belief. It’s crazy to know that we’re all here, but this group worked for it. This group put in the hours, and we deserve this.”
