Haliburton Came Back and Stole the Fourth. New Orleans Had No Answer.

The final says Indiana 123, New Orleans 120. But the scoreboard isn't the entire story. This was a regular-season opener, and the most useful question is what the performances actually revealed about each team's execution.

Tyrese Haliburton's first regular-season game since his Achilles injury became a comeback win. Pascal Siakam scored 30, including 12 in the fourth; Haliburton had 23 and 12 assists. Zion Williamson scored 22 and Dejounte Murray 23. Indiana trailed 101–93 before a 15–3 run.

The main takeaway isn't whether either team should be crowned after one game. It's who controlled the possessions, which players created efficient offense, and whether the losing team had a meaningful response when the game shifted.

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The first thing worth studying on film is the timing of the runs. Did the offense continue to create good looks when the defense adjusted, or did the team start settling? A final margin can hide a competitive game or make a one-sided game seem closer than it was. Here, the specific turning points matter.

I also want to separate individual production from team basketball. A star can put up a strong line in a loss, and a winning team can still have areas that need work. One box-score leader doesn't tell us who defended well, who moved the ball, or who made the right read late.

The matchup has to be evaluated in context. Rotation availability, who handled the ball, the quality of shot attempts and the work done without the ball all matter. I'm not going to turn opening week into fake championship predictions.

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My take: I'm not calling one game a full medical comeback story. But returning from an Achilles injury and taking over the fourth is real evidence of basketball confidence, not just physical availability.

For the next game, the priority is clear: repeat what actually worked, fix the possessions that broke down, and stop pretending a season opener settles the season. This result counts, but the performance underneath it is what deserves the attention.

Indiana scored 38 in the first quarter, then just 18 in the second. That's the kind of offensive whiplash that can lose you a road game, especially when New Orleans answers with 35 in that second period. The Pacers went from a seven-point first-quarter edge to a ten-point halftime deficit. It wasn't a wire-to-wire takeover; they had to recover from their own inconsistency.

Pascal Siakam finished with 30 points, while Tyrese Haliburton delivered 23 and 12 assists. The 12 assists are just as important as the scoring in Haliburton's return: he's supposed to make the whole offense easier, not simply get his own shots. That playmaking matters in the final minutes when a defense starts anticipating every possession.

Indiana won the fourth 37–28. The quarter-by-quarter split makes the comeback tangible: after losing the middle of the game, the Pacers found enough late offense to win a three-point contest. It wasn't a blowout disguised by a late run; it was a genuine test of execution.

Ivica Zubac's 15 rebounds gave Indiana another way to control possessions. New Orleans got 23 from Dejounte Murray and 22 from Zion Williamson, while Yves Missi supplied 13 points, 14 rebounds and five assists. That's real production from multiple Pelicans, which makes the late loss harder to explain away as one player struggling.

What interests me about Haliburton is the balance between aggression and distribution. When a player comes back from a major injury, people obsess over whether he can dunk or sprint. I want to know whether he still sees the game a step ahead and whether the offense trusts him with the ball when the defense is set. Twelve assists and a fourth-quarter comeback are encouraging signs.

New Orleans has to revisit how it protected a lead. The Pelicans weren't helpless for 48 minutes; they had a ten-point halftime advantage and scored 120. But giving up 37 in the fourth turns a good offensive night into a loss. Indiana earned the finish, and New Orleans has to own the defensive lapses.