Haliburton Comeback Lifts Pacers After Achilles Tear

The Haliburton comeback finally happened, and it came with tears. Sixteen months after he ruptured his right Achilles tendon, Tyrese Haliburton ran the Indiana Pacers offense in their season opener and helped beat the New Orleans Pelicans, one hundred twenty-three to one hundred twenty, on Wednesday night.

Twenty-three points, twelve assists, and a towel full of tears

According to NBA.com's Associated Press report, Haliburton needed the towel around his neck to dry his face during the postgame interview. He finished with twenty-three points, twelve assists and two rebounds in nearly thirty-four minutes, including thirteen points in the fourth quarter.

It was his first real game action since the injury. Preseason tune-ups are one thing, but a road opener in New Orleans is another. Indiana trailed by six heading into the final quarter, and Haliburton took over from there.

"It feels like it just took forever to get here," he said after the game. He added that the stretch felt like sixteen or seventeen months, and that he simply appreciated being on the floor again.

The late-game run that sealed it

With the score tied at one hundred sixteen after a Zion Williamson driving layup and free throw, Haliburton answered right away. He blew past Trey Murphy for a layup, then beat defensive specialist Herb Jones on the next trip for a layup and a three-point play. That gave the Pacers the lead for good.

Pascal Siakam was just as important, according to the AP game recap on Fox10. Siakam scored thirty points, twelve of them in the fourth, and Indiana outscored New Orleans fifteen to three down the stretch. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said he was amazed Haliburton logged so many minutes and called his fourth quarter spectacular.

Why this one hits different

Haliburton tore the Achilles during Game Seven of the NBA Finals against Oklahoma City in June of last year, after hitting three triples in just seven minutes. He then missed the entire season. Without him, the Pacers collapsed from Eastern Conference champions to a nineteen and sixty-three team, and the rival Knicks won their first title since nineteen seventy-three, as Andscape noted.

So the emotion made sense. Haliburton said he had private moments, especially early in rehab, when it was hard. He admitted he did not expect to cry, but seeing so many Pacers fans in the arena, in a building where Indiana had not won in five years, got to him.

What the numbers say about the Pacers

Last season's version of Haliburton averaged eighteen point six points and nine point two assists, shooting forty-seven percent from the field and almost thirty-nine percent from deep, according to the Associated Press. Matching that production over a full year would put Indiana right back in the playoff mix.

Preseason hinted at it. Haliburton played in three of four exhibition games, scoring forty-eight points with fifteen assists, and he shot better than fifty percent from the floor. The Haliburton comeback was not a surprise to the Pacers staff, but doing it in a real game with real stakes is a different level of proof.

The roster around him looks deeper too. Ivica Zubac added sixteen points and fourteen rebounds, and Obi Toppin chipped in twenty, according to the Bleacher Report box score. New Orleans still got twenty-two from Williamson and twenty-three from Dejounte Murray, who also returned from Achilles surgery, so the night was a double comeback story.

The Pelicans will likely regret this one. They shot thirty-seven free throws and won the rebounding battle, fifty to forty-two, yet still let it slip. That is how tight the margin was, and why one fourth-quarter run from a star guard mattered so much.

Rust, perspective and what comes next

Do not mistake this for a perfect return. Haliburton admitted he was gassed and struggling at times, saying track workouts and sprints are nothing like real game shape. He even hit the floor hard in a collision with Williamson and bounced right back up. He said what made him feel normal was that nobody on his team panicked.

He also described a new outlook at just twenty-six years old. Perspective, he said, is everything, and in a tough moment mid-game he stepped back and reminded himself that he was back playing. That mindset is a big reason the comeback story is landing with fans well beyond Indiana.

The next test is Friday, when Haliburton plays his first home game in about four hundred ninety days, according to CBS Sports. Dallas rookie sensation Cooper Flagg and the Mavericks are in town, and the Indianapolis crowd will be loud.

For a franchise that cratered without its floor general, one opening night will not fix everything. Still, a healthy Haliburton next to Siakam is the best news Indiana has had in a long time. Follow more athletes and games on our sports page.