486 days. 11664 hours. That is how long Tyrese Haliburton spent away from the game of basketball after tearing his Achilles in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals. The city of Indianapolis had to watch our team lose hope and eventually lose the closest opportunity to a championship that you can possible get to. We had to watch a 19-63 season where quite literally half the team was injured for the entirety of the year. We had to despair in losing a coin flip to lose our pick in a generational draft class and miss out on what will likely be a future All-NBA player from those top four picks. We had to watch our bitter rivals, the New York Fucking Knicks, trot to a championship with quite literally zero resistance in the East. We had to see the NBA completely disrespect us once again by scheduling Hali’s return back in fucking New Orleans on a god damn Wednesday. 486 days of nightmare for the city of Indianapolis and the Pacers faithful.

488 days later, which is tomorrow, Tyrese Haliburton makes his regular season home debut at Gainbridge Fieldhouse against the Dallas Mavericks. The King returns to his kingdom, and will sit back upon the throne that he has built brick-by-brick over the course of the last four years. Tears are going to be shed by both fans and players. The city of Indianapolis and the Pacers faithful will ensure that our beloved team in their iconic blue and gold jerseys know that we are here, we are ready, and that we know that we are so fucking back.

I’ve never had more promise for a professional sports team that I’ve followed. I’ve never experienced nearly 500 days of anticipation for the team’s lynchpin to return. I watched 79 Pacers games last year, sitting there stewing in misery hoping it would pay out in the lottery. It did not. Watching the Knicks win their title without having to go through the King of the East was despicable. I’m confident that Hali is going to make it all worth it during this 2026 campaign.

Let’s talk about roster moves since the 2025 Finals run. Myles Turn(coat)er notoriously left the offseason after the Finals to go to Milwaukee, and scorned the city of Indianapolis and Pacers fans as he left. He is now stuck in basketball purgatory after the Bucks traded away Giannis for measly returns from the Heat (they got blown out by the Wizards last night, Myles put up 11/5/3.) During the middle of the disastrous season last year, the Pacers traded away the beloved Bennedict Mathurin, Ivica Zubac, and two first round picks for Ivica Zubac and Kobe Brown. In the offseason, they waived Tony Bradley and Micah Potter. The Pacers signed Kelly Oubre Jr. and Larry Nance, and drafted Braden Smith who will fill one of the two-way slots this year.

This Pacers team is better than the Finals run team. Zubac does everything we need- grabs boards, sets HARD screens, puts the ball back. He had a clearly average night last night and posted a 16/15 double-double in a close win at New Orleans. He had the team’s highest +/- at +11. Oubre had a rough first outing, but he is exactly the type of player this Pacers team will need going forward. He guards out from 40 feet, hustles through screens, and shoots well from beyond the arch. Nance Jr. will provide locker room guidance and will give Zubac some breathing room.

The Pacers offense showed flashes of greatness last night, and they are only going to get better. They had a poor outside shooting performance- shooting 30% from three. Pascal is still quietly incredible- 30/8/1 from our All-Star PF. Obi and Nembhard played fantastic with 20/3/1 and 18/2/9 respectively. Haliburton is king- posting a stellar 23/2/12 statline, scoring 13 points in the fourth quarter on 104% TS%. CLUTCH PLAYER OF THE YEAR. This team was missing out on a starter in Aaron Nesmith and an important role player in TJ McConnell too, and still came out in a tough game versus what I think will be a decent Pelicans squad.

Let’s talk about the bad. Ben Sheppard was bad- missing open shots and shooting them out of rhythm. Jarace Walker had a rough game, and really needs to show more promise in the coming weeks if he wants to keep his rotation as Johnny Furphy recovers from his ACL, and Jalen Slawson is hungry to prove himself at that position too.

488 days tomorrow. The King sits back on his throne. The hearts of millions of fans are finally ready to be free. Welcome back Tyrese.

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J.A. Riley