Tyrese Haliburton offers encouraging signs in first game back from injury

For the first time in 472 days, the Indiana Pacers watched star point guard Tyrese Haliburton take the floor in an NBA game.

Haliburton tore his Achilles on June 22, 2025, in Game 7 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder and had not gotten back on the floor since. 

He finally made his return to action Wednesday in a preseason contest against the Minnesota Timberwolves and showed some encouraging signs headed into the regular season.

Tyrese Haliburton had an encouraging performance

Haliburton logged 16 minutes in Wednesday's game, and all things considered, he put together a solid performance. Haliburton scored seven points on 3-of-8 shooting from the field and 1-of-3 shooting from three-point range.

The rusty shooting was to be expected, but it was the rest of Haliburton's game that looked as good as ever. Haliburton dished out six assists along with collecting a steal and two blocks. 

It was an extremely encouraging performance for Haliburton nearly 16th months since the last time he'd been on a court.