Tyrese Haliburton leads Pacers' win in emotional return - ESPN

NEW ORLEANS — Tyrese Haliburton believed that the first time he would truly get emotional in his long-awaited return from a torn Achilles tendon would be during the Indiana Pacers' home opener Friday.

That expectation was dashed Wednesday night when the two-time All-Star broke into tears of joy when he peered into the Smoothie King Center crowd and saw Pacers fans celebrating his triumphant return.

«The best part was the end and that moment,» Haliburton told Andscape after the Pacers' 123-120 season-opening win over the New Orleans Pelicans. «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.»

An admittedly gassed Haliburton scored 16 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and had 12 assists in 33 minutes as the Pacers held on. It was his first game since he tore his right Achilles in a Game 7 loss to the 2025 NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder on June 22, 2025. The injury-plagued Pacers went from Eastern Conference champions to a dismal 19-63 record last season without Haliburton.

On this night, Haliburton was back to his old star self, and so seemed the Pacers in a gritty win.

«He looked great. I told him it would take some time to get back to his shape,» Pacers forward Pascal Siakam, who scored a game-high 30 points, told Andscape. «His shape is amazing with the pace and everything we play like. But the first game back, I'm just happy for him to be back on the floor. I know how hard last [season] was for him.»

Said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle: «Tyrese played extremely well. It's the first time he played over 30 minutes in 16½ months.»

Haliburton made his first shot of the season on a 4-foot runner that trimmed the