Pacers fans will want to hear what Shams Charania said about Tyrese Haliburton appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
On Wednesday evening, the Indiana Pacers will kick off their new season with a road game against the New Orleans Pelicans. This game will mark the official return of Tyrese Haliburton, who missed all of last year after suffering a torn Achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Earlier in the day on Wednesday, NBA insider Shams Charania of ESPN stopped by ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show and gave the latest update on Haliburton and the Pacers’ outlook ahead of the new season.
“Around the league, teams know how potent this Indiana Pacers team is gonna be.. Tyrese Haliburton looked really good in the preseason,” he said, per Pat McAfee on X, formerly Twitter.
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Indeed, many around the NBA expect the Pacers to pick up right where they left off when Haliburton exited Game 7 of the NBA Finals two years ago, when Indiana was looking to secure its first championship in franchise history against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Instead, the star suffered the devastating injury and 2025-26 was a lost season for Indiana as a result, although the team still has most of the same core from that Finals run in place, with Ivica Zubac now manning the middle after last year’s big trade with the Los Angeles Clippers, which ended up costing the Pacers a premium lottery pick this year.
Still, if Haliburton is able to look anything like his usual self, it’s not hard to imagine the Pacers shooting right back up toward the top of the Eastern Conference leaderboard, although the conference is much deeper than usual this year after several teams made big moves.
In any case, the Pacers and Pelicans are slated to tip things off on Wednesday at 8:00 pm ET from New Orleans.