The Indiana Pacers lost Game 7 of the NBA Finals after Tyrese Haliburton went down with an Achilles injury in the first quarter of the game. They lost 91-103 to the Thunder as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander claimed his first Finals MVP award with a 29-point performance to seal the series.
Despite Gilgeous-Alexander’s strong contributions, the NBA world will somehow still credit Haliburton’s injury as the reason the Pacers were able to win Game 7. The Eastern Conference was unfortunately plagued with Achilles injuries in these Playoffs. Three key players: Jayson Tatum, Damian Lillard, and now Haliburton, all suffered an Achilles injury in the same season. But an even more notable coincidence that was spotted online by O’Shea Jackson was that all three of them wear the same number, 0.
All the same number wtf!?!? https://t.co/4b6YAYphtt
— O’Shea Jackson Jr (@OsheaJacksonJr) June 23, 2025
This observation left the fans in disbelief and even led them to draw far-fetched conclusions. They took to social media and made their feelings known about this unfortunate coincidence.
“Every player who tore their Achilles’ in these playoffs wore number 0. That jersey is cursed.”
“This must be the curse of the zero or something. Because this is absolutely insane. I don’t think there’s ever been this many injuries to major superstars in one playoff season.”
“Benedict Mathurin about to tear both Achilles at once.” (He wears the number 00)
“It’s a damn curse.”
“Zero reason not to believe this is a conspiracy.”
“Damn that’s a wild coincidence.”
Most fans clearly felt that the number zero represented some bad omen for these players. But in my opinion, all these injuries are a result of poor scheduling by the NBA, which has resulted in several players getting injured during these playoffs.
Thunder And Pacers Both Benefit From Injuries
Both the teams that reached the NBA finals benefited from several rough injuries to their opponents. The Thunder faced the Grizzlies without Ja Morant for most of the time due to injury, then they faced the Nuggets, who played with an injured Aaron Gordon in the last two games of the series. And now defeated the Pacers without Tyrese Haliburton in Game 7 of the Finals, which seals their franchise’s first-ever NBA championship.
The Pacers beat the Bucks, who did not have their star guard Damian Lillard due to an Achilles injury for most of the series. They then faced the Cavaliers, who were also shorthanded and had three key players playing through injury (Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and De’Andre Hunter). The Knicks were able to guarantee their spot in the Eastern Conference Finals (ECF) against the Pacers after Jayson Tatum went down with an Achilles injury as well. Therefore, the Pacers avoided a match-up with the defending champions in the ECF again due to injury.
Hence, it can be concluded that at the end of the day, the healthiest team prevails in an NBA championship run.
