The Indiana Pacers have stumbled out of the gate in the 2026-27 season, but the sky is not falling just yet.
After opening the year with a comeback win over the New Orleans Pelicans on October 21, the Pacers have gone in the wrong direction fast. Friday night’s loss to the Miami Heat dropped Indiana to 2-4, and the early-season picture has gotten messier by the day.
The biggest problem is the injury list, which is already growing ugly. Tyrese Haliburton is back on the sideline with a hamstring strain.
Ivica Zubac has been sidelined by an ankle injury. T.J.
McConnell, Aaron Nesmith, and Andrew Nembhard are also dealing with injuries, while Ben Sheppard is out for months because of a knee injury.
That kind of start naturally has fans uneasy, especially after last season’s injury misery. Indiana spent far too much of that year trying to survive the attrition, and this season has opened with a familiar headache.
Still, there’s a difference between a bad stretch and a season gone bad. Haliburton is expected to miss the next couple of weeks, but he will be back.
Zubac should return, too. McConnell, Nembhard, and Nesmith are all expected to get healthy as well.
The Pacers have already shown they can dig out of an early hole. Just two years ago, during their run to the NBA Finals, they were sitting at 10-15 at one point and still finished just fine. A rough opening doesn’t automatically define what comes next.
Indiana has enough talent to weather this, especially once the roster starts to heal. The 19-63 disaster from last season is not something this team should be expected to repeat.
No one around the Pacers should be thrilled with how this has started. The injuries are real, and the team can’t afford to keep stacking bad luck on top of bad luck. But it is still far too early to label this a lost season.
The next chance to steady things comes Sunday evening against the Brooklyn Nets, and a win would at least give a restless fan base a little breathing room.
In Other News...
Pacers Fans Just Got An Important Sign On T.J. McConnell
The Pacers got a useful bit of injury-news movement this week when T.J. McConnell and Johnny Furphy were assigned to the Noblesville Boom for on-floor work as both continue their recoveries. For Indiana, the McConnell piece is the one that matters most in the short term, because the veteran guard has been working back from a strained right hamstring and is now moving through tests as he tries to get closer to game action.
Furphys assignment is part of a longer rehab path after his ACL tear, and he has been cleared for limited live play as he eases back into basketball activity. With Indiana already navigating a pileup of injuries, McConnells progress is the development Pacers fans will be watching most closely, since his return would give the rotation a needed stabilizer in the backcourt. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Already Face A Familiar Problem With Key Players Out
The Pacers were already thin before tipoff against Miami, and the absence of Tyrese Haliburton and Obi Toppin left them with just 11 available players for a night that quickly turned into a track meet they could not control. Indiana still found offense, with Andrew Nembhard helping keep the pressure on, but the bigger issue was on the other end, where the Heat kept finding clean looks and never let the game settle into the Pacers preferred pace.
A 145-125 loss is the kind of result that can happen when a short-handed roster is forced to chase all night, and Indianas fourth defeat of the season came with a familiar warning sign attached. Miami shot nearly 60 percent from the field and went 18-for-40 from three, exposing how much the Pacers are asking of the players who are available while they wait for the injured group to return. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Face An Early Gut Check In NBA Cup Opener
The NBA Cup opener arrives at a tricky moment for Indiana, which has had its rhythm disrupted by injuries to key rotation pieces Tyrese Haliburton, Ivica Zubac and TJ McConnell. That has made the Pacers recent stretch more difficult to navigate, and it puts a spotlight on how well they can hold up when the margin for error gets thinner against a Miami team that is starting to settle in after picking up its first win of the season.
For Indiana, this is less about the tournament branding and more about an early-season gut check. The Heat bring a familiar level of pressure and structure, and the Pacers will need to lean on depth and pace to stay competitive if their unavailable starters remain out. It is the kind of game that can reveal a lot about a teams resilience before the NBA Cup even has a chance to take shape. [Read more 🡒]