Tyrese Haliburton shocked to face Pelicans in long-awaited return

The Indiana Pacers have been without their superstar point guard Tyrese Haliburton since Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals when he suffered a torn Achilles.

After missing 16 months with the injury, Haliburton is finally set to return, but his first opponent is not what he expected.

Indiana is playing who on opening night?

It would seem that with Haliburton returning, the NBA would've given the Pacers a home game to open their season, but that is not the case.

Even more questionable, Indiana's opening game is not nationally televised, but rather against a surprise opponent. The Pacers will hit the road for Game 1 against the New Orleans Pelicans. 

Tyrese Haliburton was shocked by the scheduling decision

Haliburton joined the "Numbers on the Board" podcast and revealed how shocked and surprised he was when he saw that his return game was neither at home nor nationally televised. 

"When I saw the schedule, I was like oh wow," Haliburton said. "I was shocked to see that, but we move on."

Instead of opening night, Haliburton's return game at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse will come Friday, Oct. 23, against the Dallas Mavericks.