Pacers Lose 2 Rotation Players for Opener, Get Major Tyrese Haliburton Boost

The Indiana Pacers will be without T.J. McConnell and Aaron Nesmith for Wednesday's season opener at the New Orleans Pelicans. Both are listed out with hamstring strains on the NBA injury report filed at 5:30 p.m. ET Tuesday.

McConnell's strain is in his right hamstring. Nesmith's is in his left.

Johnny Furphy, who had surgery to repair his right ACL, is the third Pacer ruled out. Three two-way players are on the list for G League reasons, not injuries. Braden Smith is doubtful, and Kobe Brown and Jalen Slawson are probable.

Tyrese Haliburton's name does not appear anywhere on it. Wednesday's 8 p.m. ET tip at Smoothie King Center would be his first regular-season game in 486 days.

OUT:

Johnny Furphy (right ACL repair)

T.J. McConnell (right hamstring strain)

Aaron Nesmith (left hamstring strain)

DOUBTFUL:

Braden Smith (G League two-way)

PROBABLE:

Kobe Brown (G League two-way)

Jalen Slawson (G League two-way)

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle wasn't going to get ahead of the league filing at practice Tuesday.

"Check the injury report when it comes out," Carlisle said.

McConnell did not play in Ames on Oct. 7. He was out again for Atlanta's visit three nights later, and he sat through both overtime games, at Oklahoma City on Oct. 13 and at home against Milwaukee on Oct. 16. The Pacers did not say why at the time.

Indiana signed McConnell in July 2019. He is 34 now, and this is his eighth season with the Pacers and 12th in the league. Two seasons ago, the year Indiana made the Finals, he put up 9.1 points and 4.4 assists a game in the regular season.

Smith is a 23-year-old rookie out of Purdue, and Haliburton has compared his passing to McConnell's. In the Oct. 13 game at Oklahoma City, his five assists matched Ivica Zubac and Quenton Jackson for the team high. Chicago traded his draft rights to Indiana on June 24.

Nesmith also sat when Indiana closed the preseason against the Milwaukee Bucks on Oct. 16. Indiana lost that game 128-127 in overtime, with its starters sitting the second half.

He turned 27 that same day. Nine days earlier, he led the Pacers with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the preseason opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Ames, Iowa, a 123-112 Indiana win.

Boston traded Nesmith to Indiana in July 2022. He had been projected to start on the wing next to Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Pascal Siakam, and Zubac.

Kelly Oubre Jr., a 30-year-old wing who signed July 7, averaged 14.1 points with the Philadelphia 76ers last season.

Carlisle expects a physical game Wednesday, with everybody coming out with aggression and speed.

"I'm sure he's ready," Carlisle explained. "I'm sure he's ready. It's, 16 or 17 months is a long time."

An ankle tweak in Ames on Oct. 7 kept Haliburton out of the Atlanta game three nights later, and Carlisle said the MRI looked good. He was back for the last two exhibitions, scoring 24 points at Oklahoma City and 17 against Milwaukee.

The only scare in the finale was a charley horse on the last play of the first half.

"I'm good," Haliburton said after that game. "I just [took] a knee. I get a few charley horses a year, so stretch, and I'll be fine."

On Tuesday, Haliburton said he is "just fine" and in "a good place from a basketball standpoint."

Furphy, who turns 22 in December, tore the ACL in his right knee in February. San Antonio had traded his draft rights to Indiana in July 2024.

Kobe Brown arrived as the second player in the Zubac deal with the LA Clippers on Feb. 5, when Indiana sent out Bennedict Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson. Slawson, who turns 27 on Thursday, has been with the Pacers since September 2025 after playing college ball at Furman.

Two-way players can move between the Pacers and the Noblesville Boom, Indiana's G League affiliate.

After New Orleans, the Pacers come home to face the Dallas Mavericks on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.