Indianapolis will welcome back Tyrese Haliburton, who helped transform the Indiana Pacers into contenders, while Cooper Flagg will look to continue his emergence for the visiting Dallas Mavericks when the teams square off Friday.
It will be the first home game in 490 days for Haliburton, who missed all of last season after tearing his right Achilles in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals.
In the Pacers’ season opener, Haliburton flashed the form that made him a two-time All-Star, scoring 23 points and handing out 12 assists in a 123-120 road victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
After the game, Haliburton acknowledged the emotions surrounding his comeback.
“I didn’t think I was going to cry,” he said. “But there was a moment where it just all hit me.”
Haliburton’s return gives Indiana renewed optimism after the Pacers went 19-63 in his absence last season. Reunited with Pascal Siakam, Haliburton hopes to help Indiana recapture the form that carried them to The Finals two seasons ago.
Siakam finished with a game-high 30 points against the Pelicans.
“You can’t take Pascal Siakam for granted,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. “… He’s so consistent and makes it look so consistently easy.”
Carlisle said Quenton Jackson was the “hero of the game” against New Orleans after posting six points, four rebounds and three steals in 16 minutes off the bench.
“He earned his way into crunch time,” Carlisle said. “That’s what we need. We need guys playing their hearts out. Anything less isn’t going to get us there.”
The Mavericks fell 128-110 on the road to the Houston Rockets in their season opener, spoiling Dusty May’s debut as Dallas coach. Flagg, however, continued his ascent as a dynamic scorer, pouring in a game-high 32 points.
It was the highest-scoring performance by a teenager in an NBA season opener, adding another milestone for the 2025 No. 1 overall pick and reigning NBA Rookie of the Year. Flagg also made 11 of 13 free throw attempts.
“That’s been a point of emphasis,” May said. “When we evaluated ourselves after four (preseason) games, getting to the line wasn’t something we did well. We thought (Flagg) was the best way to capitalize on that in the paint.”
Dallas also welcomed back an All-Star guard from a lengthy injury absence. Kyrie Irving scored 15 points in his first game since tearing his left ACL on March 3, 2025.
The Mavericks are still working to unlock their offense with Irving back in the lineup alongside Flagg.
“(Irving) is obviously a focal point,” May said. “There are going to be puzzles we have to figure out. … We’ve got to do a better job and find solutions there.”
The Mavericks trailed Houston 70-38 at halftime after being outscored 38-12 in the second quarter. Flagg pointed to the team’s recurring struggles in those 12 minutes.
“The thing for us, all preseason has been second quarters,” Flagg said. “We’ve had bad second quarters going into the half. We have to come out and dig ourselves out of a hole in the third quarter. We have to find a way to combat that and have better second quarters.”
