Inside the recovery: How Tyrese Haliburton beat the odds to play in Game 6

With the season on the line, Haliburton underwent intensive treatment — including house calls, H-Wave, and hyperbaric therapy — to manage a calf strain and help the Pacers force Game 7.

OKLAHOMA CITY — For the past week, Tyrese Haliburton can’t end a conversation with his family without them checking on his right calf and making sure he’s doing something — anything — to help with recovery.

Eating breakfast? Put something on the leg.

Watching “Love Island” with his girlfriend? Put something on the leg.

“My family has been on me,” Haliburton said, smiling, after their Game 6 win to extend the NBA Finals. “If they call me, they are like, ‘Are you doing treatment right now?’”

A support system is necessary, and Haliburton has a strong one. It also helps to have access to world-class care — imaging, treatment, and specialists — and house calls from the team’s medical staff.

Let’s revisit the numbers — something the Pacers' coaching staff values through analytics:

• 22 of 23 calf strains during the regular season resulted in at least one game missed

• Average time missed for postseason calf strains: six days (or 1.5 games)

So how did Haliburton do it?