The Pacers are 1-0. One of 82. LOTTA work to do for the long haul.
But winning is what matters most and the Pacers 123-120 win over the Pelicans made for a fun and exciting way to tip off the season and welcome back Tyrese Haliburton to basketball games that matter.
Immediately following the game, Haliburton joined Jeremiah Johnson for the Pacers walk off interview and as JJ was setting up his question, Haliburton’s face turned stoic. Normal joyous smile and bright eyes gone. Instead the gravity of the moment and realization that his 16 month journey to that moment had finally arrived and everything went as well as anyone could expect.
Hali’s struggled to speak and his eyes watered up forcing him to take a minute to let out that pent up emotion in front of Pacers Nation.
What a moment!
Haliburton earned that moment with a 23 point, 12 assist effort that required plenty of heavy lifting in the fourth quarter and crunch time when he scored 13 points, making all four of his shots by attacking the paint and drawing an additional five free throws which he also made. Perfect shooting effort at the perfect time. Of course.
Pascal Siakam played almost all of the final quarter and added 12 of his game high 30 points in the final frame, most working off Haliburton as the duo forced defensive switches and then took turns taking advantage.
While those two scored the bulk the buckets down the stretch, the play of Andrew Nembhard at both ends of the floor was fantastic for the full 48. Nembhard finished with 18 points and 9 assists and when ran the reserve group quite well in the second half after a struggle earlier in the game.
The Pacers put themselves in a hole with a rough second quarter effort, getting outscored 35-18 after a 37-point first quarter which Rick Carlisle thought was fools gold since he didn’t like the level of compete he saw from his crew. The reserve rotation really struggled across the board in the first half. Too many guys appearing to play just to fit in without hitting the standard effort Carlisle expects.
Larry Nance Jr. looked out of place on the offensive end and only played 5 minutes. Jarace Walker was unable to build on his preseason performance, resorting back to more passive play and mind numbing turnovers in the first half. It seems real simple for Jarace. He has to be on the constant hunt to make plays when he’s on the floor. Playing not to screw up or just fit in doesn’t work, instead making him loose with the ball and late with the pass. It probably would’ve helped if an early shot dropped but alas, it didn’t and he has to play at a higher level whether the offense is flowing or not.
Quenton Jackson also didn’t appear ready for prime time in the first half, filling in some reserve guard minutes with TJ McConnell out. Fortunately, all of the reserve improved their play in the second half but none more so than QJack. Carlisle call him the hero of the game for his role in give the Pacers a quick boost when he joined the second half fray and earned crunch time minutes.
The Pacers were constantly looking for a spark as they trailed by 10 to three points forever before finally getting over that three-point hump. Q and Tyrese made noteworthy plays to get over that hump. Jackson had 6 points and 3 steals in the final quarter and made two critical free throws to put the Pacers up by the final score, 123-120 with 45 seconds remaining.
From there the Pacers hung one by earning defensive stops to cover up for a turnover and missed free throws the rest of the way.
Wasn’t easy. Wasn’t pretty. Just win, baby!
Siakam (0-4) and Ivica Zubac (0-2) missed all six of their fourth quarter free throws to make things interesting. Fortunately, Jackson, Nembhard and Hali combined to make all nine of their freebies. Hopefully, the bigs can be decent at the line going forward because they will likely earn their share of trips to the line in tight games.
Zubac started out a little slow in his official Pacers debut, but eventually delivered exactly what was needed. He struggled to finish with his left, but was an absolute presence around the rim on both ends, finishing with 16 points and 15 rebounds. That included battling for an OReb off a Siakam missed free throw early in the fourth quarter for a put back dunk. Instead of Pelicans with the ball up eight, the lead was trimmed to six points which was all part of the grind the Pacers went through to fight their way back to eventually earn the win.
All wins a good and the Pelicans presented plenty of problems with a healthy Dejounte Murray and plenty of active length to create problems for the Pacers. Zion Williamson made his presence felt looking much more fit having lost a lot of bad weight while maintaining strength and size where it matters in his upper body and backside.
Bennedict Mathurin was active and engaging as you’d expect against his former team, playing a familiar game off the bench contributing 11 points and 3 rebounds in about 18 minutes. Derick Queen was a problem off the bench with a loud 10 points and 10 rebounds along with a running dialog with Haliburton. Hali had the last say, before the ultimate last say, heading to a timeout and chirping Queen which stopped the young big fella in his tracks where he was eagerly met by a bevy of Pacers players off the bench.
Full team effort in a team win.
Home Opener
The Pacers return home to what should be a raucous Gainbridge Fieldhouse for their home opener against the Mavericks on Friday night. The Mavs took an absolute haymaker out of the gate, falling behind 70-38 in their eventual loss to the Rockets on Thursday night. Pride alone should have the Mavs more dialed in and ready to go against the Pacers.
After playing the Mavs, the Pacers have back-to-back road games against Brooklyn and Milwaukee before heading back home to face LeBron and the Sixers (will never not sound weird) on Wednesday. The season is rolling, but these first four games for the Pacers present an opportunity to work through the issues that showed up in game one and continue building for what will be a challenging schedule over the remainder of the calendar year.
Pacers vs. Mavericks
Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
When: Friday, October 23, 2026 - 7:00 p.m. ET
TV: DAZN/CBS4
Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan
Odds: Pacers -5.5
Projected Starters
Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Kelly Oubre Jr., Pascal Siakam, Ivica Zubac
Mavericks: Kyrie Irving, Max Christie, Cooper Flagg, PJ Washington, Daniel Gafford
Injuries
Pacers: Johnny Furphy (knee) - out, TJ McConnell (hamstring) - out, Aaron Nesmith (hamstring) - out
Mavericks: Santi Aldama (knee) - questionable, Tarik Biberovic (heel) - questionable, Jett Howard (calf) - questionable, Caleb Martin (thumb) - questionable, Dereck Lively II (foot) - out