Indiana opened the regular season 1-1 and sits seventh in the East. The Pacers beat the Pelicans on the road, then lost at home to Dallas. The week also left the injury list longer than it started.
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The opener came on October 21 at New Orleans. Indiana won 123-120. Siakam scored 9 points and Nembhard had 8. It was a quiet night for the leading scorers, and the Pacers won anyway. After that game they were 1-0 and first in the East. Their power ranking had climbed from 26th to 14th in a week.
The Mavericks game on October 23 went the other way. Indiana lost 105-121. Siakam scored 23 points and Haliburton had 18. The record went to 1-1, and Indiana fell to fifth in the East on October 24 and seventh on October 25. The ranking slipped to 15th.
The injuries changed more than the score did. Before the opener, Nesmith and McConnell were both listed out with hamstring problems, Nesmith's on the left and McConnell's on the right. Both went back to day-to-day after the Pelicans game. Nesmith was cleared on October 23. A day later he was tagged day-to-day again for the same left hamstring. McConnell moved between out and day-to-day three times in four days. He is listed out again as of October 24. Walker was cleared on October 20, which closes the undisclosed tag he picked up on October 13.
The biggest new item is Ben Sheppard. He was tagged day-to-day with a left knee problem on October 22. A day later he was listed out, and a report said he had suffered a torn left meniscus. No return date has been logged.
The roster also got smaller on October 18. Indiana parted with James Johnson, Keba Keita and Rienk Mast. Those are the three players the October 17 report said were waived. Zubac's situation is unchanged. He had 13 points and 13 rebounds in a preseason game at Oklahoma City and has not appeared in a result since. No transaction explains how he joined the roster. Indiana went 1-3 in the preseason, and the regular season has started 1-1.
Three games were set for this week, starting October 21. Two have been played.
Open storylines
as of Sun, Oct 25A report on October 23 said he tore his left meniscus, and he is listed out with no return date.
He went from out to day-to-day and back to out between October 20 and 24, and the right hamstring is still unresolved.
He was cleared October 23, then tagged day-to-day again October 24 for the same left hamstring.
He has no logged arrival, and he has not appeared in a result since his 13 and 13 on October 13.
The power ranking rose from 26th to 14th, then eased to 15th after the loss to Dallas.
The projection
all 30 teams →The season depends most on Pascal Siakam (20.5 wins without him), Jay Huff (16.9 wins without him), Johnny Furphy (16.4 wins without him), Aaron Nesmith (15.7 wins without him) and Ivica Zubac (15.7 wins without him): on/off from 2026-27, details under Injuries. Computed Tue, Oct 27; the method is on the methods page.
The race
Eastern Conference · 78 games leftNext 5: vs 76ers75%at Heat0%vs Nets0%vs Hawks50%at Grizzlies100%opponents win 45% of their games on average
Standings and games back are from the official table; the pace is the current record carried over 82 games, nothing more.
Day by day
32 days on the recordEarlier on the record28 more days · back to Fri, Sep 11
The franchise
Every season since the start →Public record →Nowupdated 2026-10-19
Rick Carlisle enters his sixth season as head coach of a team trying to forget last season's 19-63 finish, the worst record in franchise history, with an offense that ranked 28th and a defense that ranked 24th out of 30 teams and a net rating of -7.8 that sat 26th in the league. That collapse came with Tyrese Haliburton sidelined the entire year by the Achilles he tore in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, and with Myles Turner gone to the rival Milwaukee Bucks after ten seasons in Indiana. The core that remains is built around Haliburton and Pascal Siakam, who averaged 24.0 points last season, with Andrew Nembhard, Kelly Oubre Jr., Aaron Nesmith, Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard filling out the rotation alongside new addition Ivica Zubac at center. Indiana carries a payroll of $206.4 million across 15 contracts, above the $200.4 million luxury tax line and already brushing the $209.0 million first apron, with Siakam and Haliburton each earning $48.9 million. The team enters 2026-27 having forfeited its 2029 first-round pick and holding only swap rights on several other seconds, a legacy of the trades that built this roster. The summer's housekeeping continued into October, with two-way names like Keba Keita, Rienk Mast and Jalen Warley cycling on and off, and James Johnson waived on October 17 after a brief return.
Identity and rivalries112 words
Indiana plays fast, with Carlisle's offense built on ball movement and pace, 101.78 possessions a game last season, and on Haliburton setting the tempo when healthy. The franchise still carries the memory of its ABA years against the Kentucky Colonels and its NBA-era battles with the Knicks, Bucks, Cavaliers and Heat, series that have decided trips to the Eastern Conference finals and beyond. The Bucks rivalry carries an extra edge now that Myles Turner plays there after a decade in Indiana. What's at stake today is simpler: proving last season's historic low was the injury, not the new normal, and showing the Haliburton-Siakam pairing can still win games without Turner behind them.
Home, owners and numbers100 words
The Pacers play at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis, which opened in 1999 as Conseco Fieldhouse, seats 18,165 and is owned and operated by the Capital Improvement Board, City of Indianapolis. Herb Simon owns the Pacers through Pacers Sports & Entertainment, which also owns the WNBA's Indiana Fever, who share the building. The arena hosted the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend and has been a regular stop for the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments. The franchise's retired numbers and Hall of Famers hang in that building as the names fans point to when they talk about who Indiana basketball belongs to.
What they are chasing113 words
Indiana is chasing a return to relevance after the worst record in franchise history, with Haliburton back from his Achilles tear and the front office betting that last year's 19-63 was an injury season, not a decline. The immediate question is health: Nesmith is day-to-day with a hamstring and leg issue, Walker and McConnell carry undisclosed tags, and the preseason record already sits at 1-3. Hanging over all of it is the payroll, parked above the tax line with Siakam and Haliburton each making $48.9 million, and a 2029 first-round pick already forfeited, leaving fans arguing over how much longer this core has to show it can win before the bill comes due.
The long view463 words
The Pacers were founded in 1967 in Indianapolis as an original American Basketball Association franchise, put together by six investors: Richard Tinkham, John DeVoe, Chuck DeVoe, Lyn Treece, Chuck Barnes, and Bob Collins. The name comes from Indiana's ties to the Indianapolis 500 pace car and to harness racing. They played their first seven years at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum, then Market Square Arena from 1974 for 25 years; today they play at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Under coach Bobby "Slick" Leonard, with Mel Daniels, George McGinnis, Bob Netolicky, Rick Mount, Freddie Lewis, and Roger Brown, Indiana became the ABA's dominant team, winning championships in 1970, 1972, and 1973 and reaching the ABA Finals five times (also 1969 and 1975), an ABA record.
The Pacers joined the NBA in 1976 through the ABA-NBA merger, alongside the Denver Nuggets, New York Nets, and San Antonio Spurs, paying a $3.2 million entry fee. The early NBA years were rough: a 36-46 debut season, only two winning seasons in 13 years, and two of the worst trades in league history — sending Alex English to Denver for an aging George McGinnis in 1980, and giving up a 1984 first-round pick (which became Sam Bowie, taken ahead of Michael Jordan) for center Tom Owens. Indiana bottomed out at 20-62 in 1982-83 before Jack Ramsay led a 41-41 turnaround in 1986-87, Indiana's first NBA-era playoff win, sparked by Rookie of the Year Chuck Person.
Reggie Miller, drafted out of UCLA in 1987, and Rik Smits, drafted in 1988, anchored the next era alongside Detlef Schrempf. Under Larry Brown the Pacers won an NBA-era-high 47 games in 1993-94 and reached back-to-back Eastern Conference finals in 1994 and 1995, both against the Knicks — defined by Miller's 25-point fourth quarter and choke sign to Spike Lee in 1994, and his eight points in 8.9 seconds in 1995. Miller was also a tri-captain on the gold medal 1994 FIBA World Championship team.
Larry Bird took over as coach in 1997-98 and produced a franchise-best 58-24 record, with Chris Mullin, Dale Davis, Derrick McKey, and Antonio Davis losing a seven-game conference finals to the Bulls, then falling to the Knicks in the 1999 conference finals. In 2000, Indiana reached its first NBA Finals, beating the Bucks, 76ers, and Knicks before losing to the Lakers in six games. Isiah Thomas then built around Jermaine O'Neal, acquired for Dale Davis, and later added Ron Artest in a trade with Chicago.
Indiana has won nine division titles and returned to the NBA Finals in 2025. Six Hall of Famers played multiple seasons in a Pacers uniform — Miller, Mullin, English, Daniels, Brown, and McGinnis — alongside Hall of Fame coaches Leonard, Ramsay, and Larry Brown; Miller and Schrempf are also in the FIBA Hall of Fame.