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In June, Tyrese Haliburton suffered an Achilles tear, and in July, the Indiana Pacers ruled him out for this season. Since then, the positive updates have been far less for the franchise as they have taken the tanking route. They are the second straight team to go from appearing in the NBA Finals to the draft lottery and are hoping for similar luck as the Dallas Mavericks.
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On Wednesday evening, the two-time All-Star tweeted, “Played 5 on 5 today for first time since June🙏🏽🙏🏽.” June 22, 2025, could have been the day when Tyrese Haliburton lifted the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy. The 26-year-old had already drilled three of his four three-pointers in a rapid 90-second stretch in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. However, midway through the opening quarter, he collapsed with an Achilles rupture and left the court in tears.
Since then, it’s been a slow, grueling 10-month journey for the Pacers guard on his road to recovery. During that process, he faced physical adjustments and mental challenges as he worked his way back. “The other day, we had like the low-minute guys come and play with us. So, I’m guarding Ben. I got to see where I’m at. Hezied me one time. He was at the rim. I was still at the three-point line. I’m like, ‘I still got some time, you know?’ Like I still there’s still I got to give myself some grace.”
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Played 5 on 5 today for first time since June🙏🏽🙏🏽
— Tyrese Haliburton (@Hali) April 8, 2026
Tyrese Haliburton made that revelation to LeBron James and Steve Nash back in January on the Mind the Game podcast. While sitting on the sidelines is never easy, it’s more difficult for him because of the current Pacers situation. Indiana has suffered the second-worst record at 18-61. The game on Thursday against the Brooklyn Nets will be a race to obtain better draft lottery odds.
Reporter Even Sidery tweeted, “Indiana clinches 14% chance at No. 1 with loss. Brooklyn winning lowers their odds of landing No. 1 from 14% to 10.5%.” As Indiana holds the third-worst record, the Nets have the league’s second-worst record of 20-59. And their matchup has interesting finer details.
Tyrese Haliburton is not the only player on the sideline for the Pacers
Indiana has lost three straight and 21 of its past 24 games. Their recent loss was 124-104 at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night. They finished the game with only nine available players after Kobe Brown tweaked his back in the first half. Pascal Siakam (left ankle sprain) will miss his third straight game, while starting wing Aaron Nesmith (cervical strain) and point guards Andrew Nembhard (thoracic and lumbar injury management) and T.J. McConnell (bilateral hamstring injury management) have all been ruled out again.
Again, Tyrese Haliburton remains out with an Achilles tendon tear, joining him with long-term injuries are forward Johnny Furphy (ACL tear), and center Ivica Zubac, with a fractured rib, are also out for the season. So seven of the 18 players on the Pacers’ roster won’t be available. Similarly, the injury problems have been a thorn in the Nets ‘side.
They have announced that 10 players will be on the sidelines: rookie Nolan Traore and forward Josh Minott. Terance Mann (right patella tendinosis), Noah Clowney (left ankle), and Ziaire Williams (tenosynovitis/bursitis in his left foot), along with center Nic Claxton (right fifth finger sprain.), are dealing with injuries of their own.
With 17 players listed out and many on the questionable list, the matchup still holds importance for the Nets and the Pacers. Since the Kings and Jazz are tied for the league’s fourth-worst record at 21-59, Indiana can afford to win this game without getting into a tie with those two teams. However, Brooklyn doesn’t have that luxury as they would slip into a tie with a win.
