Rick Carlisle Says Tyrese Haliburton Was 'Undaunted' in 24-Point Return

Tyrese Haliburton went 9-of-14 from the field and 4-of-6 from 3-point range Tuesday night at Paycom Center, scoring 24 points in the first half of the Indiana Pacers' preseason game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

He sat for all of the second half. Indiana lost 114-112 in overtime.

On June 22, 2025, Haliburton tore his right Achilles tendon in the first quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Finals in the same building. The Thunder beat Indiana 103-91 that night to win the championship.

Tuesday's game came 478 days later.

Haliburton skipped the Pacers' trip to Oklahoma City last season, saying he did not want to go back until he was fully healthy, WRTV's Angela Moryan reported.

The Thunder crowd applauded when he was introduced with the starters.

Haliburton's first basket came about two minutes in. Through his first 10 minutes on the floor, he had 19 points.

Three of his four 3-pointers came in the first quarter, including one from 34 feet.

He finished with three assists, three rebounds, and two blocks in 18 minutes.

Indiana's shot making set up its best defensive stretches of the first half, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said, and Haliburton supplied 24 of the Pacers' 61 points before halftime.

"Just the approach," Carlisle said. "Coming back in here and being really undaunted by anything that's happened in the past, and he just came and played his game, and he was Tyrese Haliburton."

Before Tuesday, Haliburton had played one preseason game. On Oct. 7, 472 days after the Achilles tear, he had seven points on 3-of-8 shooting, six assists, two blocks, and a steal in 16 minutes of a 123-112 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves at Iowa State's Hilton Coliseum, where he played college basketball from 2018 to 2020.

All 16 of those minutes came in the first half.

Afterward, Haliburton said he felt like he was playing too fast, ESPN reported.

A mild right ankle tweak from that game kept him out of Saturday's 119-117 home loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Carlisle said before tip-off that an MRI on the ankle looked good.

Carlisle said the speed of NBA games is what Haliburton has had to catch back up to since his rehab ended.

"If you're looking for a positive progression throughout training camp and as the games have gone forward, this is what we all expected," Carlisle explained. "We expected him to get stronger each game, better rhythm, better conditioning, all those kinds of things."

"It's been a 16-month period, which is a generous period of time for rehab, but it's long and arduous, and so getting back into the games is exciting, as he has said, but things move fast," Carlisle continued. "I thought the game slowed down tonight for him, and it was great to see."

Without Haliburton, Indiana went 19-63 in 2025-26. The season before, he led the Pacers to the Eastern Conference title and a seven-game Finals against Oklahoma City.

Haliburton signed a five-year, $244 million extension with Indiana in July 2023. The Pacers are 1-2 in the preseason.

The Pacers close the preseason Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse against the Milwaukee Bucks. Haliburton's first regular-season game is scheduled for Oct. 21 at New Orleans, and his first at home comes two days later against the Dallas Mavericks.