NBA FINALS LIVE UPDATES: Pacers vs Thunder Game 7

Indiana’s star Tyrese Haliburton limped out of game seven of the NBA Finals in the first quarter in a devastating blow to the Pacers’ hopes of toppling the Oklahoma City Thunder to claim the title.

Haliburton was already nursing a right calf strain and was a near game-time decision for game six — when the Pacers routed the Thunder in Indianapolis to force the decisive game seven.

It was tied at 16-16 with five minutes left in the fist period when Haliburton caught a pass from Obi Toppin and appeared to slip as he tried to drive past Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Haliburton sprawled forward, beating the court with one hand in apparent pain.

His teammates quickly surrounded him before he was helped from the floor and departed for the locker room — hopping on one leg and supported by Pacers staff.

The Pacers later confirmed Haliburton would play no further part in the game after suffering a “right lower leg injury”, ESPN reported.

Haliburton had made three three-pointers on the way to nine points before the injury.

Without their talisman the Pacers — who had led by as many as dug in to keep it close, the Thunder leading 25-22 at the end of the first quarter.

“It’s a heartbreak, man,” Myles Turner told broadcaster NBC as the second quarter got underway. “It’s unfortunate, you know, biggest game of the year that injury didn’t, like, hold up.

“But, you know, we’ve got his back and that’s what it’s all about.”

NBA Finals series recap

NBA Finals: How Pacers pulled off a stunner in Game 1

The game plan was the obvious one. Just chip away, the Indiana Pacers said, because there was no other option that would have made any sense at that point.

They were down by 15 with 9:42 remaining. They were turning the ball over about once every three possessions, couldn’t stop Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and had the Oklahoma City crowd in a deafening fury.

READ: NBA Finals: Thunder collapse when it mattered most in Game 1

“We just said, ‘Hey, let’s just keep chipping away at the rock,'” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “Got to keep pounding the rock and just chip away and hang in.”

With 0.3 seconds left, there was no more rock left to pound.

Not for Game 1, anyway. Tyrese Haliburton scored with that much time left and the Pacers stunned the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-110 in the opener of this year’s NBA Finals

NBA Finals: Thunder rumble past Pacers to win Game 2, even series

This has been Oklahoma City’s formula all season: Lose one game, respond in the next.

That’s exactly what the Thunder did in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points, Alex Caruso added 20 off the bench and the Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers 123-107 on Sunday night to tie these finals at one game apiece.

Jalen Williams scored 19, Aaron Wiggins had 18 and Chet Holmgren finished with 15 for the Thunder. It was the franchise’s first finals game win since the opener of the 2012 series against Miami.

“We did some things good tonight. We did some things bad,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We’ve got to be able to get better and be ready for Game 3.”

NBA Finals Game 3: Pacers bounce back to down Thunder for 2-1 lead

The Indiana Pacers bounced back to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-107 and take a 2-1 series lead in the NBA Finals on Wednesday.

Bennedict Mathurin scored 27 points off the bench and Tyrese Haliburton finished with 22 as the Pacers shrugged off Sunday’s emphatic game-two loss to reignite their finals challenge.

“We love playing in front of our fans,” Haliburton said. “We love being here. They deserve high-stakes, high-level basketball and we’re giving them that right now.

“So it’s a big win for us. Enjoy it, but we’ve got a day in between this so we’ve got to be ready for game four.”

A gripping encounter at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis saw the lead change hands nine times before the Pacers produced a decisive late burst of scoring.

NBA Finals: Thunder hold off Pacers to take 3-2 series lead

Jalen Williams erupted for 40 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder held off the Indiana Pacers to score a 120-109 victory and move to within one win of clinching the NBA Finals on Monday.

An enthralling game-five battle in Oklahoma saw the Pacers climb out of an 18-point first-half hole to get within two points of the Thunder in the fourth quarter.

But just as Indiana threatened the latest in a series of trademark comebacks, the Thunder found an extra gear with Williams and NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander steering the team to a pivotal victory.

NBA FINALS: Pacers vs Thunder series goes to Game 7