486 Days Later, Tyrese Haliburton Is Back — and He Ran the Pacers Past the Pelicans 123–120

The wait was 486 days. It ended with Tyrese Haliburton standing on the Smoothie King Center court late Wednesday night, a towel pressed to his face, wiping his eye while the cameras rolled and a 123–120 Indiana Pacers win over the New Orleans Pelicans went into the books. His first regular-season game since he ruptured his right Achilles in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals produced 23 points and 12 assists — and, in the fourth quarter, a takeover. “It means a lot to be back out here,” Haliburton said afterward. “I’m just really thankful to be back out here.”

The night had hold of him before it even started. In warmups, Haliburton stood under one basket gripping the net — five seconds, ten, twenty — holding on like he would not let go. A little over two minutes into the game, his first shot fell and gave Indiana its first lead of the season. The conductor was back on the podium, and the whole evening bent around that fact.

The fourth quarter, taken over

Indiana needed every bit of it. The Pacers led 38–31 after one quarter, then watched the second quarter cave in — outscored 35–18 and held to 33 percent shooting — and trailed 66–56 at halftime and 92–86 entering the fourth. Zion Williamson closed the half with the Pelicans’ final eight points, including back-to-back 3-pointers from each wing in the last minute — a genuine shock from a player who made exactly one 3-pointer all of last season. At halftime, with the Pacers chasing, our check-in had the return feeling real and the game slipping. The finish was still to come.

Down 101–93 in the fourth, Haliburton scored eight of Indiana’s next 10 points in a 90-second span, the engine of a 15–3 run that flipped the game to 108–104. Thirteen of his 23 points came in the fourth quarter. When Williamson tied it at 116 on a driving layup and the foul shot, Haliburton answered by scoring on power moves on the next two trips down the court — the second of them a three-point play with 1:23 left — for a 121–118 lead, and Quenton Jackson’s two free throws with 45 seconds left closed the door. The old edge came back with him, too — with 7:08 left in the fourth, Haliburton jawed with 21-year-old Pelicans big man Derik Queen all the way to the Indiana bench and picked up a technical foul for it.

As it ended, Pacers fans behind the bench were chanting “MVP, MVP” in somebody else’s building, and his wife and his mother were waiting a few feet away for a hug. The tears in the postgame interview were the receipt for all 486 days.

486 days, one bad step

The context is what makes the line in the box score more than a line. Haliburton tore his right Achilles early in Game 7 of the 2025 Finals against Oklahoma City, missed the entirety of last season, and watched Indiana crater to 19–63, the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference. The two-time All-NBA guard worked through three preseason tune-ups first, and on Wednesday he played 34 minutes, shot 8-for-15, went 5-for-5 at the line and piled up 12 assists against three turnovers. Rust was the expectation. This was not rust.

It is worth remembering what the year without him actually looked like, because it is the backdrop for everything Wednesday night meant. Indiana kept its system — the ball still moved, the shots still got generated — but possession after possession ended with the ball in the wrong hands at the wrong moment, because the player who turns a good look into a layup line was in a walking boot, then in rehab, then in street clothes. Siakam carried what he could. The pieces were real. There was never a conductor.

Siakam’s 30, and a short-handed win

Pascal Siakam led Indiana with 30 points and eight rebounds, 12 of his points in the fourth quarter. Obi Toppin added 20 off the bench, Andrew Nembhard scored 18 with nine assists, and Ivica Zubac posted 16 points and 15 rebounds. Indiana did it short-handed — no T.J. McConnell or Aaron Nesmith, both out with hamstring strains, and no Johnny Furphy, still recovering from ACL repair. For New Orleans, Dejounte Murray scored 23 with seven assists, Williamson finished with 22, and Yves Missi added 13 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks in the loss. The Pelicans had waited years for a clean injury report on opening night and finally got one — and still lost the fourth quarter, 37–28, to a man playing his first real game in 16 months.

One game proves nothing about a season, and Indiana’s second quarter was a reminder of how thin the margin runs. But a franchise that spent a year waiting on one tendon got its conductor back, on the road, in a game it had to steal late. Indiana (1–0) hosts Milwaukee on Friday night; New Orleans (0–1) visits Utah. The wait is over. The tape says so.