Tyrese Haliburton Felt Like He Was Moving Too Fast In His First Game In More Than 16 Months

In his first game back after the 2025 NBA Finals, Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton felt he was playing too fast in the Pacers’ preseason opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Iowa State.

Haliburton scored seven points on 3-of-8 shooting with six assists, one steal, and two blocks in 16 minutes. 

“It’s the first game, but it’s got to slow down,” Haliburton said. “There was just a lot of adrenaline. I was hyped to be out there, excited, but I just got to slow down a little bit.”

While being hard on himself, Haliburton noticed that although his body was moving fast, he felt like he could read the floor at his usual pace.

“It’ll happen with time,” he said. “The only way to really replicate that is game reps against other guys. And that’s what that was. So really excited about it.”

“There’s a ton of improvement that there is to be made on my end and our team’s end, but just excited to be back on the floor.”

Haliburton suited up for the Pacers over 400 days ago when he tore his right Achilles during Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals. Playing in his first game back, he struggled to sleep. He said it was mainly because of the anticipation of playing his first game back at Iowa State, where he played for two years from 2018 to 2020.

The Pacers planned to play this preseason game in 2025, but after Haliburton’s injury, they decided to push it back until the star was healthy.

To replicate a college atmosphere, Haliburton bought out the student section at both ends of the arena, so students could get seats on a first-come, first-served basis. As a result, lines wrapped around the arena for hours before tip-off.

“It’s the loudest preseason game I’ve ever been a part of,” Haliburton said. “But had a lot of fun, a lot of special memories I’ve made here, and that just adds to it.”