Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder to their first NBA championship in history as the Canadian star secured the Finals MVP award after a 29-point performance in their Game 7 win. They beat the Thunder 103-91 after leading by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter. He averaged 30.3 points, 5.6 assists, and 4.6 rebounds to win the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP award.
However, the biggest incident from the game remains Tyrese Haliburton’s injury: the moment that changed the direction in which this game was headed. Gilgeous-Alexander was one of the first respondents at the scene after the play stopped to try and help Haliburton. Following the game, he spoke to the media about his first reaction to seeing what happened with Haliburton.
“I asked him if he was okay, seemed like he was in a lot of pain. You just hate to see it, in sports in general, but in the moment, my heart dropped for him. I couldn’t imagine playing the biggest game of my life and something like that happening. It’s so unfortunate. It’s not fair. Competition isn’t fair sometimes. I just felt so bad for him… Prayers go out to him for sure. Hell of a player. Future’s bright. That team’s going to be good for a very long time.”
He also spoke to ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt and resonated those feelings about Haliburton once again.
“Yeah, it was sad. I couldn’t imagine like playing in the biggest game of my life, playing for everything I have ever dreamed of, the high stage, Game 7 in an NBA Finals, and something unfortunate like that happens, it’s unfair. I feel bad for him, pray for him, wish him the best of luck. He’s a hell of a player, his future is super bright, he can do whatever he wants with this league, that’ll be a really good team for a really long time.”
While the game was close in the first half (48-47), they blew the game apart after finding their momentum late in the third quarter, going into the early part of the final quarter.
The main reason why the Pacers struggled to generate offense late in the game is due to the absence of their star guard Tyrese Haliburton, who was sidelined with an Achilles injury after going down in the first quarter. Haliburton averaged 8.6 assists per game in the Playoffs this season. The absence of his playmaking skills put the Pacers in a tough situation down the stretch.
The Pacers’ star was already struggling with a calf injury after Game 5, which got aggravated early in the first quarter of Game 7 as he collapsed after driving in on a play against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
He started the game strong, hitting three of his four attempts from beyond the arc. He was fired up just a few minutes before his collapse, and it seemed like he was about to have the game of his life. He had nine points within the first six minutes of the game while shooting 75% from the field.
The Pacers’ hopes came crashing down with his injury. Unfortunate to see that sports can be so cruel to a man’s and a team’s dreams.
