Haliburton on playing through calf strain - 'I'd do it again' - ESPN

Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton said he didn't regret playing through a calf strain that led to him tearing his right Achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

«I'd do it again, and again after that, to fight for this city and my brothers,» Haliburton wrote in an emotional statement posted to social media Monday night. «For the chance to do something special.»

Haliburton suffered the calf strain in Game 5 and, despite being listed as a game-time decision, played on it in Game 6. After making it through that game unscathed, Haliburton again took the court in Game 7 but crumpled to the floor on an attempted drive to the basket with 4:55 remaining in the opening quarter.

He left game putting no weight on the leg and had his face wrapped in towels in an emotional scene. The Pacers confirmed he tore his Achilles earlier Monday.

Man. Don't know how to explain it other than shock. Words cannot express the pain of this letdown. The frustration is unfathomable. I've worked my whole life to get to this moment and this is how it ends? Makes no sense.

Now that I've gotten surgery, I wish I could count the… pic.twitter.com/UyY0iFEp6Z

The injury cut short one of the most remarkable individual playoff runs in NBA history, one in which Haliburton hit a tying or winning shot in the final seconds in all four rounds of the postseason. It also ended a miraculous run to the Finals for the fourth-seeded Pacers as they went on to lose Game 7 to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

«Don't know how to explain it other than shock,» Haliburton wrote. «Words cannot express the pain of this letdown. The frustration is unfathomable. I've worked my whole life to get to this moment and this is how it ends? Makes no sense.

Now that I've gotten surgery, I wish