Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton Reacts to Scary Injury to Damian Lillard

Ricardo Klein | Apr 28, 2025

Apr 22, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) dribbles the ball while Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard (0) defends during game two of first round for the 2024 NBA Playoffs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The Indiana Pacers took a commanding 3-1 series lead on Sunday in Game 4 to inch closer to advancing to the next round.

The Pacers did so relatively easily, winning by a final score of 129-103. It was a complete team effort by the Pacers, who had several players in the rotation score 10+ points. Indiana captured Game 4 as a team, and now they will look to close things out in Game 5 in front of their home fans.

While they will look to do just that, an unfortunate event occurred in the first half of Game 4. Bucks superstar guard Damian Lillard suffered a scary lower-body injury, which the team fears was an Achilles injury.

If so, the Bucks will be with their star guard for the rest of the series and possibly beyond. After the win, Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton spoke to the media, but before the press had a chance to ask questions, Haliburton sent his best wishes to Lillard.

Tyrese Haliburton is a class act 👏

(h/t @ohnohedidnt24 )

pic.twitter.com/wGFYI9R7Y8

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 28, 2025

Haliburton and Lillard have been going back and forth with each other in this series, but at the end of the day, it's all about competing and getting the best out of one another.

There is no real animosity between the two outside the court, and Haliburton elaborated on that when sending Lillard his best wishes.

Lillard suffered the injury while helping his team secure an offensive rebound before falling to the floor. He finished the game with zero points,  two rebounds, and two assists in six minutes before exiting. He was ultimately ruled out before halftime.

As for Haliburton, he was tremendous in the contest, recording 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, eight rebounds, 15 assists, and one steal in 34 minutes of action.

The 25-year-old has done his part more times than not in this series. He is averaging 15.5 points per game in four games, 12.3 assists, 6.8 rebounds, and 0.3 steals while shooting 40.7 percent from the field and 29.0 percent from three in 33.5 minutes of action.

Lillard's absence for potentially the rest of the series will significantly dampen their chances of coming back in this series. Regardless, the Pacers have proved to be the better team from top to bottom, but unfortunately, we were never able to see both these squads healthy at the same time.

More Pacers: Pacers' Myles Turner Reveals How He Slowed Giannis Antetokounmpo Down in Game 4

Bucks' Damian Lillard Ruled Out

For more news and notes on the Indiana Pacers, visit Indiana Pacers on SI.