Tyrese Haliburton Reportedly Playing Through Calf Injury in Pacers vs. Thunder Game 5

Tyrese Haliburton had a first half to forget in Monday's Game 5 of the 2025 NBA Finals, and an injury was at least partially to blame.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported during the halftime show that the Indiana Pacers point guard was dealing with right calf tightness as his team fell behind 59-45 to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Charania's report came after Haliburton briefly went to the locker room in the first half:

With the injury limiting his movement, the 25-year-old went scoreless in the first half on 0-of-5 shooting from the field and 0-of-4 shooting from three. He also had just two assists as the Pacers struggled to move the ball and create open looks against OKC's stifling defense.

His struggles were only part of the problem for the visitors, who turned it over 10 times in the first half.

The first half was more of the same for Indiana after it struggled in the fourth quarter of Game 4 at home and missed an opportunity to build a 3-1 lead in the series. That fourth quarter swung the momentum of the entire NBA Finals, and the Thunder wasted no time setting the tone in front of their own fans.

Fortunately for Indiana, it will still have an opportunity to force a Game 7 even if it loses Monday's contest, considering Game 6 will be back at home on Thursday.

However, it is difficult to envision it doing so if Haliburton isn't healthy moving forward in this series given his overall importance to the team.