The Pacers have already shown they can get by without Tyrese Haliburton, but getting by is not the same thing as surviving what’s next.
Indiana’s 114-101 win over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night offered a glimpse of what this version of the team can look like with Haliburton sidelined. Andrew Nembhard, Pascal Siakam, and Ivica Zubac formed a temporary “big three” that worked well enough to get the job done. The problem is that the Pacers are about to face a stretch that will demand a lot more than one solid night.
On Wednesday, head coach Rick Carlisle said Haliburton is “progressing” from the hamstring injury that has kept him out since Oct. 26, but he will miss at least the next 10 days, or five games. That puts Indiana in a difficult spot right away, because the schedule ahead is brutal even with its star guard available.
Over the next five games, assuming Wednesday’s matchup is not included in that timeline, the Pacers are set to see the New York Knicks twice, along with the Philadelphia 76ers, Houston Rockets, and Cleveland Cavaliers. If the team decides to play it safe and wait until maybe Thanksgiving, the Oklahoma City Thunder are also on the schedule.
That’s a rough run for any team. Without Haliburton, it becomes a much steeper climb.
Indiana sits at 4-8, which is hardly ideal, but the season is still young and the Eastern Conference remains wide open. That’s the encouraging part.
The less comforting part is that the Pacers can’t afford to tread water forever. If they want to stay in the playoff mix and have any chance at a deep run, their best players have to raise their level now.
There are reasons to believe that group can do it. Nembhard has already shown he can handle the primary point guard duties in Haliburton’s absence, just as he did last season.
Siakam remains central because he gives Indiana production in every area. Zubac, meanwhile, is still settling in and building chemistry with the rest of the roster.
Against Washington, that trio had its best outing together. That’s a start, and it suggests the pieces can fit.
But the Pacers need more than a promising start. They need a larger sample, and they need it against better competition.
The next few games will tell a lot about whether Indiana can do more than survive without Haliburton. They need to level up, and they need to do it soon.
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Pacers Already Face A Pressure Point With Haliburton Sidelined
The Pacers are already dealing with an early-season squeeze, and Tyrese Haliburtons hamstring injury has only sharpened the focus on what this roster looks like without its engine. Indiana has opened 4-8, a rough start shaped in part by injuries, and the front office is already weighing mid-tier roster moves as it tries to steady the season before the standings get away from it.
What makes the situation tricky is that the problems are not isolated to one spot. Indiana has questions in the backcourt and the frontcourt, and the team still needs more reliable offensive support around its core while getting more from center Ivica Zubac. For a group trying to get back into playoff contention, the next move may matter almost as much as Haliburtons return. [Read more 🡒]
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What makes McDermotts retirement hit a little harder in Indiana is how often he reappeared in blue and gold across multiple stints. He finished his career with Sacramento, but for Pacers followers, hell be remembered as one of those useful, reliable veterans who fit into the rotation and always seemed to remain part of the conversation, even as his career kept moving from stop to stop. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers May Have Finally Found Their Formula Without Haliburton
The Pacers finally put together a cleaner night in a 114-101 win over the Wizards, and it came at a time when they badly needed something to hang onto. With Tyrese Haliburton sidelined until at least Thanksgiving, Indiana has been searching for a way to steady itself after a 4-8 start, and this was one of the more encouraging signs that the group can survive for a while without its star point guard.
What stood out was the kind of work that does not always show up first in the box score, especially on the glass and in the collective effort department. If Indiana is going to keep from slipping further in the standings while Haliburton is out, it will need more nights like this one, where the pace is manageable, the rebounding is there and the load is shared a little more evenly across the roster. [Read more 🡒]