In his first official game since he tore his Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the NBA Finals in June 2025, star point guard Tyrese Haliburton led the Pacers to a comeback road win in New Orleans, Marc J. Spears writes for ESPN.com.
Haliburton scored 16 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and dished out 12 assists in 34 minutes during the three-point win over the Pelicans. He wasn’t expecting to get emotional until Friday’s home opener, but he cried tears of joy afterward when he saw Pacers fans in the crowd celebrating his victorious return.
“The best part was the end and that moment,” Haliburton told Spears. “It’s been an emotional roller coaster. I’m telling you, what made me feel that way was seeing all those Pacers fans here in New Orleans. That was special.”
According to Spears, Haliburton has leaned on Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray for advice on how he recovered from his own Achilles tear and even asked him about how to improve his conditioning during the game. Several people close to the 26-year-old attended Indiana’s season opener.
“My people flew out here. I think there was 12 people on the [private] plane,” Haliburton said. “My best friend, my brothers. My parents. My wife. My trainer. Mostly everybody. I think it was important for everybody to be there and they wanted to be there for me. It just means a lot.”
Here’s more from around the Central:
With T.J. McConnell still recovering from a hamstring strain, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle turned to Quenton Jackson for minutes off the bench and referred to the fifth-year guard as the team’s “hero of the game” after Jackon’s consecutive steals led to a pair of layups late in the third quarter, cutting a seven-point deficit to three. “*(Jackson) came in and immediately … there was a four-point swing in the second half*,” Carlisle said, per Zion Brown of The Indianapolis Star. “And then he earned his way into crunch time. That’s what we need. We just need guys playing their hearts out. Anything less isn’t going to get us there.”
After re-signing with the Bucks on a four-year, $64MM contract, veteran shooting guard Gary Trent Jr. struggled during the preseason and then was a healthy scratch in Wednesday’s season-opening loss to Washington, notes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. The league is investigating Trent’s deal with Milwaukee to determine whether it was a form of salary cap circumvention.
The Bulls’ season opener couldn’t have gone much worse, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Not only were they were embarrassed by Toronto, losing by an eye-popping 43 points, but the Bulls also showed little competitive spirit. “The way we competed,” head coach Tiago Splitter said when he was asked what disappointed him most about the drubbing. “After a turnover, getting our heads down when running back, that’s something we cannot accept.” As Cowley observes, Chicago’s upcoming schedule looks extremely difficult, so Friday’s matchup with Milwaukee will be particularly important if the team wants to add a tally to the win column.