Haliburton had scored nine points before being forced out of Sunday's game [Getty Images]
Indiana Pacers superstar Tyrese Haliburton could miss the entire 2025-26 NBA season after having surgery on a torn right Achilles tendon.
The 25-year-old fell to the court without any contact as he attempted to drive to the basket seven minutes into the first quarter of the decisive game seven of the NBA Championship play-off finals at the Oklahoma City Thunder.
He was in obvious distress as he was helped from the court and missed the rest of the game, which his side lost 103-91 to end their hopes of a first NBA title.
The Pacers confirmed he would have surgery on Monday on the injury, which has a likely recovery time of eight to 10 months.
The two-time All Star is the third high-profile player to suffer a ruptured Achilles tendon in this season's play-offs, following Boston's Jayson Tatum and Milwaukee's Damian Lillard.
The injury is similar to one that kept Kevin Durant out for a full season when he was hurt in the 2019 NBA Finals while playing for the Golden State Warriors.
Haliburton had played in Sunday's decider despite suffering a calf strain in game five of the finals.
It followed an amazing run where he hit a tying or winning shot in the final seconds in all four rounds of the play-offs.
"I'd do it again, and again after that, to fight for this city and my brothers," he posted on X after the surgery. "For the chance to do something special.
"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?"
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle paid tribute to Haliburton after Sunday's game.
"What happened with Tyrese, all of our hearts dropped," he said. "But he will be back in time, and I believe he'll make a full recovery."
The first domino has fallen for the Boston Celtics. It won’t be the last.
The Celtics started the anticipated overhaul of their championship core late Monday night by dealing Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Anfernee Simons and a pair of second-round picks, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.
The Celtics get off the three seasons and $100-plus million remaining on Holiday’s contract but save just $4.7 million for the upcoming 2025-26 season. Boston now sits $18 million over the second apron line, which suggests there’s more dealing in the team’s future.
That the Celtics were able to trade Holiday back to the Blazers, the team that essentially redirected him from Milwaukee before Boston’s 2023-24 title season, is amusing. That president of basketball operations Brad Stevens was able to acquire draft assets as part of the deal, after heavy speculation that Boston would have to attach a first-round pick to move Holiday, is even more noteworthy.
If Simons sticks in Boston, he feels like the type of player the Celtics can take a hard look at over the first months of the season. The 6-foot-3 shooting guard turned 26 earlier this month and has averaged 20.7 points per game over the last three seasons.
Simons averaged 19.3 points per game in 70 appearances for the Blazers last season, and despite a downturn in his shooting efficiencies, he has shot 38.1 percent from beyond the 3-point arc for his career. He could potentially help fill some of the scoring void while Jayson Tatum recovers from Achilles surgery.
If the Celtics don’t see Simons as a long-term fit, or if they eventually need to explore a subsequent deal to trim more money, he could have value to other contenders as an expiring contract.
Holiday was a key part of Boston’s success over the past two seasons. He saved some of his finest basketball for the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals against the Pacers, where he routinely made the sorts of winning plays that helped Boston produce a harder-than-it-looked sweep of a team that made the NBA Finals this year.
But it was obvious entering the summer that Holiday’s time in Boston was coming to a close.
The Celtics got ahead of the new collective bargaining agreement by acquiring Holiday on the eve of training camp in 2023. Stevens rewarded him with a long-term extension before Boston’s title run. The Celtics will miss Holiday’s defensive versatility. He paired well with Derrick White in the defensive-minded “Stock Exchange” backcourt.
Simons is a solid playmaker who averaged a career-best 5.5 assists two seasons ago. He ranked in the 80th percentile in assist percentage among all combo guards this past season, per Cleaning The Glass data.
The question is whether he can play defense to a level that allows Joe Mazzulla to confidently lean on him. Opponents shot 50.6 percent against Simons last season, or 4.4 percent higher than expected output, per the NBA’s tracking data.
The 2025 NHL Draft is of the utmost importance to the Boston Bruins.
They have the No. 7 overall pick — their highest first-round selection since 2011. If the Bruins keep the pick and don’t trade it, the position they need to target is center.
The Bruins were lucky to have a top-tier center tandem in Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci for well over a decade. The franchise has been unable to draft a worthy replacement for either player, but that drought could end this year.
The 2025 draft class is loaded with quality centers. We might even see seven of them taken in the top 10 picks.
A talented wing such as Porter Martone or Victor Eklund could be enticing, but the Bruins desperately need a top-six center, and given how expensive that kind of player is to acquire via trade or free agency, the most effective way to get one is through the draft.
Which players should the Bruins consider with the No. 7 pick? Here’s a roundup of projections from recent expert mock drafts, including our own.
“It’s no secret the Bruins need a center. They haven’t drafted well at that position for a long time. Luckily for the B’s, they have a top 10 pick (their first since 2011) in a draft that’s loaded with quality centers.
O’Brien is the best center available at this point in Round 1. He has a really strong two-way skill set with the high-end offensive talent to consistently create scoring chances for himself and teammates. He tallied 66 assists in 66 games for Brantford last season.”
“Despite their needs, I don’t think Boston is as hard pressed to take a center here as the organizations in front of them, in part because six centers in a row just got picked. I could see the Bruins lean toward winger Martone or defenseman Radim Mrtka for that reason but it wouldn’t surprise me as well if they took another center. McQueen, O’Brien and Hagens would all be possible fits here.”
“Everyone I’ve talked to in the last week or so seems to think O’Brien/Martin/Hagens don’t get past the Flyers and Bruins at 6-7, and yet one of the top eight guys has to go outside the top seven. I’ve also heard the Bruins have looked into moving up. I do think it’s interesting that the Flyers and Bruins seem to like the same three guys and pick back-to-back, though, and Hagens just makes so much sense for the Bruins as that high-end piece to build around if he’s there.”
“With only one natural right wing among their top 15 prospects, the Boston Bruins could use this opportunity to address that particular need. They could turn to Victor Eklund of the SHL’s Djurgårdens IF. NHL Central Scouting ranked him No. 2 among international skaters.
“Eklund is the younger brother of San Jose Sharks forward William Eklund. The 5’11”, 170-pound Swede had 31 points in 42 games this season for Djurgårdens’ HockeyAllsvenskan squad, helping them earn promotion to the SHL alongside teammate and fellow NHL prospect Anton Frondell.
“NHL.com’s Mike G. Morreale considers him to be the second-best right wing in this year’s draft. Corey Pronman praised Eklund’s speed and creativity, while Steven Ellis cited his playmaking and excellent shot. Eklund will likely spend next season with Djurgårdens IF, where he’ll garner valuable experience against SHL talent. He has the potential to become a top-six right wing for the Bruins.”
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Swedish winger Victor Eklund could be an option for the Bruins at No. 7 overall.
“The Bruins need to reload up the middle and O’Brien has the potential to be a top-six center that can lead the way. He had 98 points in 66 games with the Bulldogs last season.”
“Martin is an accomplished two-way player and has solid defensive instincts. His game doesn’t involve any unnecessary risks and is good at cutting passing lanes in the neutral zone.”
Jrue Holiday’s brief but very successful tenure with the Boston Celtics has come to an end.
The C’s traded the veteran point guard to the Portland Trail Blazers in return for guard Anfernee Simons and two second-round picks, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported late Monday night.
Holiday has three years and around $104 million left on his contract. The Celtics, as one of the few teams in the second apron of the luxury tax, are saving around $4.7 million by completing this trade and are saving $40 million in luxury tax payments for next season, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
Boston is now $18 million over the second apron line, so there could potentially be more moves to come; Charania reports the Celtics “remain engaged in trade talks surrounding multiple key players on the roster.”
Simons isn’t the best defensive guard, but he’s a dynamic offensive player who can shoot well from 3-point range. The 26-year-old veteran averaged 19.3 points, 4.8 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game while shooting 36.3 percent from beyond the arc in 70 games for the Blazers last season. He’s entering the final season of his four-year, $100 million contract previously signed with Portland.
The Celtics acquired Holiday in October of 2023 in a trade with the Blazers. Holiday made an immediate impact as a scorer, an elite defender, a great leader and someone with championship experience.
He played a key role in the Celtics’ run to their 18th championship with a 2024 NBA Finals triumph over the Dallas Mavericks.
Holiday made a lot of clutch plays in the 2024 playoffs, including a game-winning steal in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final versus the Indiana Pacers.
In two seasons with the Celtics, Holiday averaged 11.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game, while shooting 39.2 percent from 3-point range.
Holiday was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2020 and helped lead them to a title the following season. He did the same after being dealt to the Celtics. Accomplishing that feat in Portland will be pretty tough, but Holiday can definitely help a young Blazers team that finished last season strong and is seeking to end its playoff drought in 2026.
Looking at the Mets’ recent offensive struggles, it’s hard not pointing directly at the bottom of the order.
When this group was clicking, they were arguably one of the deepest lineups in all of baseball.
Of late, though, they’ve become too reliant on the big boppers at the top coming through with the big knocks.
That was again the case on Monday night against Atlanta’s Spencer Schwellenbach.
Juan Soto accounted for New York’s lone runs -- crushing a two-run homer the other way with two outs in the bottom of the sixth to break up the young right-hander’s shutout bid and make it a one-run ballgame.
Other than that, the Mets managed just five hits on the night.
Two of them came from Francisco Lindor, one from Brandon Nimmo, and the other two from Brett Baty as he lifted his average to an impressive .538 in five games out of the nine spot in the order this season.
Other than that, the four through eight spots in the Mets’ lineup went a combined 0-for-18 with five strikeouts on the night as they dropped their ninth in their last 10 games.
They’ve averaged just three runs over that stretch, even with the 11-run outburst on Saturday in Philadelphia.
“We have a lot of guys on the bottom going through it,” Carlos Mendoza said. “We’re relying pretty much on the top four or five guys and then those guys on the bottom are not able to get on base, that’s why we’re having a hard time scoring runs right now.
“We were talking about when we were playing well how good our lineup was -- right now we have a few guys that are struggling.”
The youngsters have’t been as consistent as hoped. Jeff McNeil has slowed down mightily after his hot start. Tyrone Taylor continues to play stellar defense, but his bat has cooled off as well, and the same can be said for newly appointed starting catcher Luis Torrens.
Jared Young also has just six knocks since being called-up from Syracuse, but he continues to see regular at-bats as the DH.
Something needs to change in a hurry -- luckily a big reinforcement in on the way, as Mark Vientos will play two more rehab games with Syracuse this week and he could be back in the lineup as soon as Thursday.
That’s just one addition, though, the rest of this group has to get things turned around quickly.
“We need to continue to support the guys and continue to work,” the skipper said. “But you know this game is all about results, so we continue to have all the confidence in these guys, but we have to be better.”
It was no secret that the Celtics were looking to trade Holiday and the three years, $104.4 million remaining on his contract to save money. Simons, a 26-year-old two guard, has one more season on his contract at $27.7 million. Boston would save $40 million in salary and luxury tax payments, plus be about $18 million under the second tax apron, according to ESPN's Bobby Marks.
Holiday made a stopover in Portland before. He was traded there after helping Milwaukee win a title, a key part of the Bucks' acquisition of Damian Lillard. The Trail Blazers didn't keep him, they re-routed Holiday to Boston, where he was a key part of the Celtics winning a title last year.
Holiday would significantly upgrade Portland's defense, and he would be a good mentor for Scoot Henderson. However, it's very possible the Trail Blazers will re-route Holiday again. Holiday, 35, is an elite defensive guard who averaged 11.1 points a game while shooting 35.3% from beyond the arc last season. He has been a favorite in the locker room wherever he has landed.
The Celtics pick up a scorer. Simons averaged 19.3 points and 4.8 assists a game last season, while shooting 36.3% from 3. He is a bucket getter, but one who does it at a pretty average efficiency. Still, with Jayson Tatum out much, if not all, of next year, the Celtics will need some guys who can just score.
The Celtics are not done looking to make cost-saving trades, according to reports.
With the 2025 NHL Entry Draft later this week, POHO and GM Kyle Dubas and the Pittsburgh Penguins have their work cut out for them.
Since the Penguins have a total of 30 picks over the next three drafts, including 11 this year - which could reduce to 10 if the conditional first-round pick from the New York Rangers defers to 2026 - there will be plenty of opportunity for the Penguins to add impact players. Of their 11 picks in 2025, six of them are in the first three rounds.
DOB: Nov. 3, 2006 (Age 18) Position: Center Shoots: Left Height: 5-foot-11 Weight: 177 pounds Team: Boston College (NCAA)
There was a point last year when folks were projecting Hagens - prior to his freshman season at Boston College - to be selected first overall in the 2025 draft.
In his freshman season with Boston College, Hagens registered 11 goals and 37 points in 37 games. That may not "wow" anyone - and he could stand to find a bit more finishing touch in his game - but the centerman's playmaking ability, offensive instincts, and smarts stand out.
FRESHMAN JAMES HAGENS WITH THE BIGGEST GOAL OF HIS CAREER TO SECURE THE W IN THE FINAL MINUTES 🔥 pic.twitter.com/lD8eOmR4xt
Although undersized, Hagens's speed and ability to thwart defenders makes him a threat. He is especially dangerous off the rush, where his vision and playmaking are really brought out of the woodwork.
He is also a decent two-way presence, as he's able to backcheck, catch just about anyone with his speed, and has good puck skills in all three zones.
Hagens may not be an elite scoring threat - and this is a bit worrisome to some scouts, who see him as a potential complementary piece of the puzzle in a top-six - but he is an offensive threat every time he touches the ice. He proved as much in his time with the U.S. National Development Team, as he put up 35 goals and 87 points in 57 games from 2022-24.
If the Penguins do trade up in the draft, they'll have some tough decisions to make. But Hagens is certainly an option for them, as his floor is higher than most, even if the ceiling isn't.
It’s been a bit of a struggle of late for the Mets’ bullpen.
With the starters failing to work deep into games, they’ve been very overworked.
That was again the case on Monday night, but this time they were able to deliver.
Paul Blackburn was knocked around by the Braves for the second straight outing and was pulled with two outs in the top of the fifth -- that marked the fifth straight game a Mets starter failed to finish five innings.
But José Buttó entered into a first-and-third jam and needed just four pitches to clean up the mess, getting Michael Harris II to roll over to end the inning.
He followed that up with a perfect top of the sixth.
Ryne Stanek was handed the seventh and he fell into some trouble after issuing a walk and allowing a two-out single to Ozzie Albies, but he let out one of his signature roars after punching out Murphy with a nasty slider.
Reed Garrett was called upon in the eighth, coming off back-to-back rough outings, and he rebounded nicely with a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless frame of his own.
Edwin Diaz then entered for the ninth, pitching for the first time in five days, and he worked around a pair of hits, striking out Ozzie Albies on three pitches to keep the deficit at just one run.
“Those are tough games to lose,” Carlos Mendoza said. “When you use your high-leverage and aren’t able to close the deal -- we just have to turn the page, but I thought they did a hell of a job keeping us in the game.
“We only get 4.2 out of Blackburn and then everyone else kind of kept the game right there for us. Everybody that came out of that bullpen gave us a chance, we just couldn’t push those runs across.”
The common thread in most losing streaks is a collective slump at the plate, and the Mets can certainly attest to this notion in the midst of their unsettling mid-June swoon.
After falling to the division-rival Braves on Monday night at Citi Field, the Mets have now hit a measly .215 over a brutal 10-game stretch that's resulted in nine losses and pushed them out of first place in the NL East race.
To make matters worse, their season average with runners in scoring position is down to .219, which ranks second-worst in baseball.
While the Mets' lack of production during their 10-game downturn clearly speaks for itself -- they've scored 30 total runs despite hitting 15 home runs -- the woes have been contagious, from top to bottom in the lineup.
Francisco Lindor (.230) and Pete Alonso (.205) have been ice cold, and on Monday against the Braves, the Mets' bottom half of the order went a combined 2-for-17.
The Mets have allowed their opponent to draw first blood in seven of the last 10 games, and the challenge of trailing early has influenced approaches in the batter's box.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza isn't willing to say the players are pressing, but he too has noticed the recent change in at-bat quality that's caused frustrations and yet to level.
"I don't think it's pressing, I think it's just the situations of the games during this stretch, where we've been playing from behind," Mendoza said. "We need to continue support the guys and continue to work, but it's about results, right? We continue to have all the confidence in these guys, but we've got to be better."
This past weekend against the rival Phillies showed some feast-or-famine offense, as the Mets scored 11 runs in a refreshing Saturday win that was sandwiched between Friday and Sunday losses that only produced a combined three runs.
The barrage on Saturday snapped an ugly seven-game slide, but they're now facing another three-game skid. And chances are they dip there again on Tuesday night, as the Braves are sending Spencer Strider to the mound and the Mets are relying on Frankie Montas, who looked anything but effective during his lengthy rehab assignment.
"We're relying so much on our top guys, and we have a lot of guys in the bottom of the lineup that are going through it right now," Mendoza said. "When that happens, once you get past the fourth or fifth batter, we're having a hard time creating opportunities. It's hard to score like that... We've got a few guys that are struggling."
Usman Khawaja has hit back at criticism of his ability to handle the world’s best pace bowlers in the aftermath of Australia’s World Test Championship final loss to South Africa.
As was the case during their meeting last week, Atlanta jumped on Blackburn early as they pushed a man into scoring position just three pitches into the game, but he was helped out by a heads-up play from Jeff McNeil.
He wasn’t as lucky in the second, as the leadoff man reached and quickly advanced to second again, but he was able to limit the damage to just one run on a sacrifice fly thanks to a Juan Soto sliding catch.
Ronald Acuña Jr. then led off the third with a solo shot, and after a double and two walks that loaded the bases with no outs, Blackburn settled down and was able to escape with just one more tally on the board.
He finally put together a clean inning his next time out, but was unable to finish the fifth.
Austin Riley crushed a triple high off the center field fence and Sean Murphy drew a two-out walk to chase him from the contest, but José Buttó entered and was able to close his line without further damage.
Overall, Blackburn allowed three runs on six hits while walking three three over 4.2 innings of work.
“I feel like I made some adjustments from the last time facing them,” he said. “I hung the curveball to Acuña and he hit it out, but other than that I felt like I made some pretty good pitches and really battled out there.”
Buttó and the rest of the Mets’ bullpen did a tremendous job keeping this one close behind Blackburn, but this was another game during this tough stretch where they were forced to take on a heavy workload.
It marked the fifth straight contest the Mets’ starter was unable to finish five innings.
“Everything is magnified when you’re struggling,” Blackburn said. “Every night everyone is going out there giving their best shot -- obviously guys don’t want to go four innings, five innings. Guys would love to do what [David] Peterson’s been doing for us.
“It’s just come in, day-by-day, continue to work and sooner or later the tide is going to turn.”
You couldn’t have scripted it any better for the Mets.
After trailing the Braves for the first seven innings on Monday night, they found themselves finally piecing together a two-out rally against struggling right-hander Raisel Iglesias in the bottom of the eighth.
Citi Field was absolutely rocking as Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo lined back-to-back singles to bring the scorching-hot Juan Soto to the plate with the tying run just 90 feet away.
Braves manager Brian Snitker elected to go with the lefty-lefty matchup, turning to Dylan Lee.
It was a matchup the Mets certainly liked, with Soto having two hits in his career against Lee. But the reliever got the best of him this time around, as he chased on a 3-2 slider down and out of the zone.
“For me, I just have a plan up there and try to execute it,” Soto said after Monday's loss. “I try my best to get on base and try to get Pete [Alonso] up with the bases loaded or first and second or whatever the situation. But it didn’t happen -- he made a really good pitch and I just couldn’t come through, he got me there.”
That ended up being the turning point, as the Mets went down quietly in the ninth and suffered their fourth consecutive loss to their division rival.
While Soto wasn’t able to come through in that spot, he did deliver earlier in the game.
The Mets were shut down by right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach over the first 5.2 innings until the star outfielder stepped to the plate and crushed an opposite-field, two-run shot to get them on the board.
It was Soto’s 17th of the season and his eighth this month.
While the Mets have been struggling mightily offensively, he’s certainly found his footing, hitting .324 with 11 extra base-hits, 16 RBI, and a 1.188 OPS in June.
“I’m trusting in what I have and what I’ve been doing since Day 1,” Soto said. “I’ve just been trusting it and now it’s finally starting to come through.”
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