‘He’s The Engine For This Team’: Dallas Mavericks Visit Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers In Home Opener

INDIANAPOLIS — The Dallas Mavericks play the Indiana Pacers at 6 p.m. CT Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the Pacers’ home opener and the first night of Dallas’ first back-to-back. Dallas is 0-1 after Wednesday’s 128-110 loss at the Houston Rockets, and Indiana is 1-0 after a 123-120 win at the New Orleans Pelicans.

Both teams opened the season with a star back from a long injury. Kyrie Irving had 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists on 6-of-9 shooting in 23:45 in Houston, his first regular-season game since tearing the ACL in his left knee March 3, 2025. Tyrese Haliburton had 23 points, 2 rebounds, and 12 assists on 8-of-15 shooting in 34 minutes in New Orleans, his first regular-season game since tearing his right Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals.

Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam, And Ivica Zubac Lead Indiana Pacers

Pascal Siakam scored 30 points with 8 rebounds in the opener. Indiana had 27 fast-break points and forced 15 turnovers at New Orleans, and Kelly Oubre Jr., who joined the Pacers this offseason, started in place of Aaron Nesmith.

Center Ivica Zubac came over from the LA Clippers at the Feb. 5 trade deadline, during a 19-63 season Indiana played without Haliburton. In an Oct. 13 preseason game at Oklahoma City, Zubac had 13 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 assists in 17 minutes, the Pacers reported.

At shootaround Friday, Max Christie said Dallas has to treat Haliburton the way it would have before the injury. Christie started alongside Irving in Houston.

“He’s a special player regardless of how long he missed. He came back last game and played New Orleans and played really, really well,” Christie said. “So it sounds like and looks like he hasn’t missed a beat. So we’ve got to treat him the same as he would pre-injury. So he’s a great player. He’s the engine for this team, and we’ve got to do a good job on him tonight.”

Nesmith (left hamstring strain) and Ben Sheppard (left knee soreness) are questionable. T.J. McConnell (right hamstring strain) and Johnny Furphy (right ACL repair) are out.

Dallas Mavericks Need Fewer Turnovers After Opening Loss In Houston

Houston scored 32 points off 21 Dallas turnovers Wednesday and won the fast-break battle 29-17, 20-3 of it before halftime. The Mavericks shot 51.9% from the field but went 11-of-37 from 3-point range, lost the second quarter 38-12, and won the second half 72-58.

Cooper Flagg scored 32 points, the most by a teenager in a season opener in NBA history. Marcus Sasser added 17 off the bench and made 4 of his 5 three-point attempts.

Mavericks coach Dusty May said before the game that Dallas got outrun in transition a few times in Houston. Indiana can plug different players into the same system, in his view, under Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, who coached Dallas for 13 seasons and won the 2011 championship there.

“It’s impressive how quickly they get it up the floor, the way they move the basketball, the way they play out of concepts,” May said. “I mean, Coach Carlisle’s one of the best to ever walk the sidelines. And so they have a great plan.”

Zaccharie Risacher had 5 of Dallas’ 12 steals off the bench in Houston, his first regular-season game with the Mavericks. If Dallas plays fast and shares the ball, the rest will take care of itself, the forward said before Friday’s game.

“They’re going to play fast. We’ve got to control that defensively,” Risacher said. “And [on offense], play our game, play with pace, sharing the ball, and that’s going to be the keys right here.”

Dallas ruled out Santi Aldama, Tarik Biberović, Dereck Lively II, and Caleb Martin, and it lists Jett Howard as doubtful. Irving is not on the report despite his minutes restriction.

May, an Indiana native, coaches his first NBA game in his home state six months after winning the national championship with Michigan at Lucas Oil Stadium. Dallas won its last visit to Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Feb. 22, snapping a 10-game losing streak. The teams meet again Nov. 9 at American Airlines Center, and Dallas hosts the San Antonio Spurs in its home opener Saturday at 7 p.m. CT.