Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton returned to the basketball court on Wednesday, Oct. 7 in a preseason game after not playing since Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals when he tore his right Achilles tendon. He missed all of last season while he recovered. Haliburton played for 16 minutes and finished with seven points, six assists, two blocks and one steal in his first contest back.
He appeared extremely happy to be back on the court, even if it was for a limited time. The team wanted to preserve his energy and full potential for the season opener set for Wednesday, Oct. 21 versus the New Orleans Pelicans. It was expected Haliburton would play in the Pacers' preseason game against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday, but Indiana coach Rick Carlisle ruled the guard out just hours before tip-off.
Haliburton suffered a "mild tweak of his right ankle" during Wednesday's game, the coach shared. The good news is, Haliburton's right ankle injury has nothing to do with his recovered Achilles tendon, even though the new injury is also on his right side. Hopefully the injury will only briefly bench Haliburton, and that his injury problem won't trickle into the regular season.
The Pacers play next on Tuesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder, so we'll see if Haliburton is ready to play again or if he'll rest his ankle. Carlisle has hope Haliburton will be good by Tuesday. He did an MRI and everything looks really good.
The Achilles looks great, all the doctors looked at it. It'll just be a matter of him working through it. Hopeful he practices Monday and plays Tuesday.
If he's not ready to play Tuesday, then we'll get him ready for Friday." Carlisle doesn't seem bothered that Haliburton's ankle injury is anything to be concerned about. But, it's the preseason, so it's not worth overdoing it, especially for a top player who is looking to come off of an injury year.
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