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The Indiana Pacers have fallen on hard times throughout the 2025-26 season thus far, and it’s due in large part to the injury absence of Tyrese Haliburton. Haliburton could not have suffered a torn Achilles at a worse possible time, as he sustained that season-ending injury that typically keeps players out for an entire season in the biggest game of his career at that point — a Game 7 clash against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2025 NBA Finals.
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But at 25 years of age, Haliburton is expected to make a full recovery. An Achilles tear is not what it once was; Kevin Durant is perhaps the biggest success story in NBA history, as Durant returned to superstar form despite missing the entirety of the 2019-20 season.
The Pacers star, of course, is not alone in his recovery nor does he want to face this kind of adversity by his lonesome. He has sought the help of two fellow stars who’ve suffered the same injury in Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum and New Orleans Pelicans’ Dejounte Murray.
“I think the good part about it was just having the guys to lean on. Like, I’m obviously not the only guy going through this. Jayson [Tatum] has been huge for me. Dejounte Murray has been huge for me. [Dejounte]’s a guy who I don’t really have a previous relationship with, but we talk pretty often. He checks on me all the time,” Haliburton said when he joined Prime’s Tuesday night NBA coverage.
Pacers look to bounce back in the 2026-27 season with Tyrese Haliburton’s return
Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribene / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Pacers, at present, have a 6-18 record. That is such a far cry from the 50-win campaign they had last season that saw them go all the way to the NBA Finals and push the powerhouse Thunder to seven games in the NBA Finals.
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But with Haliburton set to return next season at full strength, the Pacers can dream again.
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