The Indiana Pacers lost to the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night by a score of 110-102, and they did so at the hands of an old friend that most Pacers fans have already written off as washed.
Despite what the box score may say, it was Myles Turner's fourth quarter that pushed the Bucks past their long-term (okay, maybe more short-term) rivals. Turner had multiple important defensive stands in the fourth quarter, along with an offensive rebound that became the dagger for the Bucks.
While it's fair to argue that the Pacers would not have given up such a critical rebound had they had star big man Ivica Zubac, this will nevertheless go into the Pacers' record as a loss.
The Pacers have now dropped to 2-2 on the season, despite not facing a single 2025-26 playoff team so far in this short campaign. This loss was especially gut-wrenching, as the Bucks are widely expected to be one of the worst teams in the league this year.
The good news is that Tyrese Haliburton is clearly playing at a high standard, the kind of which Pacers fans could only have dreamed of so far in the season.
With so many injury concerns popping up, along with an inability to beat bad teams, this is clearly not the start Indiana is hoping for. The team will try to bounce back on Thursday against the star-studded Philadelphia 76ers.
The Hali-return
Tyrese Haliburton is averaging 21.8 points per game and 9.5 assists while shooting 51.4% from the field and 37% from deep on nearly seven attempts a contest.
That's all world stuff.
Despite what everyone predicted, Haliburton has been the least of the Pacers' worries to this point in the season. The conditioning is still not nearly at 100%, but he's been hugely impactful and generally unfazed by what should be a career-altering injury.
While all this Pacers team runs out of steam, Haliburton just keeps building. The expectation is obviously that with more talent and a healthier roster, the Pacers will be able to step back into a wide-open Eastern playoff race while elevating themselves above the rest of the conference.
Considering the hope was that everything built around Haliburton would be back to a playable level by the time Thanksgiving hit, it seems the star point guard is far ahead of schedule, even if the roster itself is still struggling with injury.
That is probably a trade every Pacers fan would take. Get the hard stuff out of the way and hope that the easy stuff, like health, falls into place.
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