Indiana’s 123-112 preseason win over Minnesota mattered less as a result than as a first look at the Pacers’ missing engine. Tyrese Haliburton played 16 minutes in his first game since tearing his Achilles in the 2025 Finals. He scored seven points, and the bigger signal was simply getting back on the floor. After a 19-63 season without him, Indiana isn’t just adding a star; it’s asking a familiar group to remember how its offense is supposed to breathe.
That distinction matters because the Pacers’ 2025-26 offense still created decent shot locations. Indiana ranked fifth in the share of its threes that were both catch-and-shoot and wide open, yet fell to 28th in offensive rating as its three-point accuracy and paint finishing slid. The system could generate openings; it couldn’t reliably convert them. Haliburton’s value is partly that he makes a good look easier to find, earlier in the possession, before the defense can reset and close the door.
His return changes the geometry before he even takes a shot. In transition, defenders have to honor his advance pass and his willingness to pull up, giving Pascal Siakam and Aaron Nesmith more room to run lanes. In the half court, the threat of Haliburton turning the corner or spraying the ball to a shooter can make a second defender hesitate. That half-beat is often the difference between a clean catch and a contested one. It’s the basketball version of restoring the Wi-Fi: everyone else’s job suddenly works better.
Ivica Zubac gives that restored playmaking a new test. The center arrived at last season’s trade deadline but played only five games for Indiana, with no minutes alongside Haliburton or Siakam. A strong screen-and-roll connection could give Haliburton a reliable interior target and force defenses to choose between helping on Zubac’s dive or conceding space to the perimeter. But Zubac also asks Indiana to balance its trademark pace and movement with a more deliberate, physical half-court option. That blend—not a nostalgia replay—is the tactical experiment.
The returning core makes the upside legible: Siakam supplies a second creator, while Andrew Nembhard and Nesmith can defend and finish around the lead guard. Indiana’s ball-and-player movement ranked among the league’s best over several recent seasons, and Haliburton’s passing can turn that motion from choreography into pressure. Jarace Walker, who averaged 11.6 points last season and shot 39.2% from three after the All-Star break, is another beneficiary if those kick-outs arrive on time. The roster has more answers when the first action is guarded.
Still, one preseason appearance can’t settle the hardest questions. Haliburton’s workload will be managed in coordination with the team’s medical staff, and timing after a long layoff is different from declaring yourself healthy. Indiana must also prove that its defense can keep games close while the offense finds its rhythm. The 19-win collapse followed an ugly 1-13 start and other injuries, so treating last season as a clean measure of the healthy group would miss the context—and treating the Finals run as a guarantee would be just as shaky.
The useful takeaway from Ames is narrower and more exciting: the Pacers’ old identity has a chance to function again, but now it must fit Zubac and a season of cautious ramp-up. Haliburton’s six rebounds and two blocks in limited minutes offered a reminder that his return isn’t only about scoring. If his pace and vision restore efficient shots without forcing Indiana to abandon its movement, the supporting cast can look much closer to a playoff team than last year’s record suggests. The next question is whether that connection holds when the games count.