Haliburton came to Indiana from Sacramento in February 2022, in the trade that sent Domantas Sabonis to the Kings. By 2024-25 he was running one of the league’s fastest-paced offenses.

He played 73 games that season, more than in any other year of his career, and the Pacers went 50-32. He made a second straight All-NBA Third Team and broke Chris Paul’s record for games with at least 20 points, 10 assists and zero turnovers.

Before the playoffs started, an anonymous survey of NBA players voted him the most overrated player in the league. The next two months changed the conversation.

Indiana entered the 2025 playoffs as the East’s No. 4 seed and knocked out the No. 5, No. 1 and No. 3 seeds. Again and again, Haliburton ended games himself.

1. April 29, 2025Game-winning layup with 1.3 seconds left in overtime. Pacers 119, Bucks 118, series over in five.
2. May 6Game-winning three in Cleveland. Pacers 120, Cavaliers 119, with 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter.
3. May 1331 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists in the 114-105 closeout of the top-seeded Cavaliers.
4. May 21The tying jumper at the end of regulation at Madison Square Garden, then a 138-135 overtime win over the Knicks.
5. May 2732 points, 12 rebounds, 15 assists in a Game 4 win over the Knicks.
6. June 5NBA Finals debut: the game-winner with 0.3 seconds left, 111-110 at Oklahoma City after Indiana trailed by 15.

Pacers’ 2025 playoff series, games won

His shot in Game 1 of the Finals was the latest go-ahead basket in a Finals game since Michael Jordan’s buzzer-beater in 1997.

The warning sign came in Game 5. Haliburton aggravated a right calf strain in the first quarter and finished with four points, missing every shot he took. He played anyway in Game 6, and Indiana won 108-91 to force a Game 7.

On June 22, 2025, in Oklahoma City, he came out firing and made three of his first four threes. With 4:55 left in the first quarter, he went down. The next day the injury was confirmed as a torn right Achilles tendon.

On July 7, 2025, the Pacers announced he would miss the entire 2025-26 season.

The Finals team came apart around him. Myles Turner left for Milwaukee in July 2025, and in February Bennedict Mathurin went to the Clippers in the trade that brought Ivica Zubac to Indiana. Without their point guard, the Eastern Conference champions fell to 19-63 and missed the playoffs.

Pacers regular-season wins

He played three of Indiana’s four preseason games, scoring 48 points with 15 assists on 19-of-36 shooting, including 24 points in 17 minutes back in Oklahoma City.

On Oct. 21, 2026, his first shot of the season was a 4-foot runner. He had seven points in the first quarter, then went scoreless through the second and third as New Orleans built a 92-86 lead.

With the Pacers down 101-93, he scored eight of their next 10 points in about 90 seconds, including a driving dunk and two three-point plays. Indiana went on a 15-3 run, won the fourth quarter 37-28 and held on 123-120.

Haliburton’s points by quarter

Pascal Siakam scored 30 and Obi Toppin added 20 off the bench. “It’s the first time he played over 30 minutes in 16½ months,” coach Rick Carlisle said. Haliburton put it more simply: “Perspective is everything.”