Cyclones in the NBA: Finals Recap

Former Cyclone star Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers have seen their outstanding postseason run come to an end, as Oklahoma City claimed the 2024-25 title Sunday evening.

Indiana took the league's most dominant team to the brink, forcing a winner-take-all game seven. Tyrese Haliburton looked primed for an all-time game seven performance, as he had nine points in the first seven minutes. However, a devastating injury, confirmed Monday afternoon by ESPN to be a torn right Achilles tendon, ended Tyrese's season early and hampered the prolific Indiana offense which was unable to overcome OKC.

Despite the heartbreaking injury, Haliburton was again the engine in the series for the Pacers. He logged another clutch, game-winning shot, led all players in assists and kept Indiana's offense churning to help power comeback efforts. Tyrese became one of just three players in NBA history to record 190-plus assists, 30-plus steals and 15-plus blocks in a playoff run – joining LeBron James and Magic Johnson. Haliburton finished the NBA Finals with 98 points, 41 assists, 32 rebounds, eight steals and four blocked shots, becoming just the seventh player to ever hit those marks in the NBA Finals (Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Scottie Pippen, Jrue Holiday and Jimmy Butler). Of the seven that have done it, Haliburton's 209 minutes played were the fewest among the group.

Haliburton was magnificent for the Pacers, as his play was the engine that made the team go. Tyrese helped guide the four-seeded Pacers to their second-ever NBA Finals appearance, as Indiana defeated (5) Milwaukee, (1) Cleveland and (3) New York to make it back to the NBA Finals.

After taking care of Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks in five games in round one, Tyrese and the Pacers followed it up by dethroning the NBA's best record and the East's number one overall seed, Cleveland. After handling its first two series in five games, the Pacers dispatched of New York in six, marking the second-straight season that Indiana has ended the Knicks' season.

Tyrese Haliburton vs. Oklahoma City
Game 1 – IND 111, OKC110 (IND leads, 1-0)
Up against the team with the best home record in the NBA and down 15 points in the fourth quarter, the resilient Pacers again found a way to do the improbable – pulling off a comeback win on the road, punctuated with a Haliburton game-winning shot with 0.3 seconds left on the clock to give the team its first lead of the game. The shot was Haliburton's fourth game-winning or tying shot of the postseason.

TYRESE HALIBURTON GIVES THE PACERS THE LEAD!

GET TO ABC NOW FOR THE FINISH! pic.twitter.com/l4SPrNspGG
— NBA (@NBA) June 6, 2025

Haliburton, who was debuting his Puma signature shoes (the Hali 1s), rose up and buried a deep two-pointer off the dribble to stun the Thunder and give Indiana a 1-0 lead for the fourth time in the playoffs. Tyrese would finish with a double-double, scoring 14 points and corralling 10 boards while dishing six assists. He was one of six Pacers in double figures as Indiana had the largest fourth quarter come-from-behind Finals win since Dallas did so against Miami in 2011.

Game 2 – OKC 123, IND 107 (series tied, 1-1)
Oklahoma City, like it has done all postseason, responded to a loss with a win, as it secured its second-ever Finals win – and first since 2012 – and defeated Indiana to even the series. A slow start for the Pacers led to an insurmountable 18-point halftime deficit as the series shifted to Indiana. Tyrese led all Pacers with 17 points, as he also had six assists and a pair of steals on the night. Indiana had seven players finish in double figures but were held without a 20-plus point scorer for the second-straight game. Following game two, ESPN reporter Shams Charania reported that Haliburton was feeling "discomfort" with a "lower right leg thing" but that he would be fine to play in game three as he was seen limping leaving the postgame podium.

Game 3 – IND 116, OKC 107 (IND leads, 2-1)
Going into the fourth quarter trailing by five, Indiana outscored OKC by 14 in the final stanza, as it went on to claim a 2-1 series lead in front of its home crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. A three-pronged Pacers attack helped spurn the fourth quarter rally, as Pascal Siakam (21), Bennedict Mathurin (27) and Haliburton (22) all scored 20-plus in the win. The spark for OKC though came from its bench as both Mathurin and T.J. McConnell were sensational, as they helped Indy outscore the Thunder bench, 49-18. McConnell scored 10, dished five assists and swiped five steals in his minutes as he became the first player to ever put up that stat line off the bench in Finals history. Not to be outdone, Haliburton finished with 22, 11 assists and nine rebounds, falling just one board shy of a triple-double.

Game 4 – OKC 111, IND 104 (series tied, 2-2)
Indiana seemed well on its way to taking a 3-1 lead in its own building in game four, as the Pacers had been in control all night and had a 10-point second half lead. That was until Gilgeous-Alexander showed why he won the MVP and scored 15 points in the final 4:38 to will the Thunder to a seven-point win to knot the series at two apiece. As OKC closed the game on a 16-7 run during that time frame, SGA scored all but one as the Thunder flipped the series back to Oklahoma City. Haliburton was Indiana's second-highest scorer as he finished with 18 points, seven assists and a pair of steals.

Game 5 – OKC 120, IND 109 (OKC leads, 3-2)
In game five, Indiana was unable to bounce back from a loss, as it dropped a second consecutive game for the first time since March 10. Down by 18 in the second quarter, the comeback-king Pacers looked like they had another memorable rally in them. After whittling the double-digit lead down to two (trailing, 95-93) with a little over eight minutes to go, Indiana ran out of gas as the Thunder pulled away to claim an 11-point victory and move one win away from the title. The Thunder were able to avoid a repeat of game one in big part due to SGA (31 points) and third-year All-Star Jalen Williams who had a game-high 40 points. Tyrese was limited to just four points but still dished six assists and grabbed seven boards in game five as he was limited on offense after straining his right calf earlier in the competition. The big talking point was if he would be able to give it a go in game six back in Indiana.

Game 6 – IND 108, NYK 91 (series tied, 3-3)
Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle kept no game six secrets, as he informed the media that Tyrese would be playing as the Pacers attempted to extend their season. With their backs against the wall, the Pacers fought and forced a decisive game seven after the most dominant game of the Finals. After missing its first eight shots and going down 10-2, Indiana responded emphatically by outscoring the Thunder 68-32 over the next 24 minutes of game time to essentially put things on ice. The dominant first half (and beginning of the third quarter) allowed the Pacers to rest Haliburton as he continued to nurse his injury. Tyrese finished with 14 points and five assists, none as impactful as the feed to Siakam for a big-time poster.

this angle of Pascal Siakam's poster dunk is incredible. pic.twitter.com/TfB8Lw7H5E
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) June 20, 2025

Game 7 – OKC 103, IND 91 (OKC wins series, 4-3)
It had been almost ten years since the last game seven in an NBA Finals. The suspense and nerves could be felt through the TV. Each team traded baskets through the first seven minutes as Tyrese was feeling it, canning three early triples for a fast nine points. Disaster struck at the five-minute mark in the first quarter though, as Haliburton went down in pain on a drive and would be quickly ruled out for the remainder of the game with a right leg injury. The Pacers rallied around their young star though for an admirable first half performance, taking a one-point lead into the break. OKC came out of the locker room with a different intensity on defense though and put a stranglehold on the Indiana offense, outscoring the Pacers by six in the third before going on to win by 12. Haliburton finished with nine points, and his three 3-pointers led all players. OKC claimed the title, the first in franchise history, as Gilgeous-Alexander was named Finals MVP.

Haliburton's NBA Finals Stats: 14.0 PPG, 5.9 APG, 4.6 RPG
Haliburton's Playoff Stats: 17.3 PPG, 8.6 APG, 5.3 RPG

Haliburton's standout 2024-25 season was captured in totality by Netflix's sports documentary series, "Starting 5." Fans of Haliburton will be able to follow his season from a gold medal in the offseason to orchestrating an All-NBA season and one of the most magical playoff runs in league history. Other stars featured in the second season of the standout Netflix documentary include Kevin Durant, Jaylen Brown, James Harden and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Last season's inaugural season was released on October 9, so it's likely to again have an early October release.

The Starting 5 season two roster is OFFICIAL:

Jaylen Brown
Kevin Durant
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Tyrese Haliburton
James Harden pic.twitter.com/7Gaq7RlVzB
— Netflix (@netflix) October 29, 2024

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