Pacers training camp practice five: Final tune ups before preseason

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers are officially more than one week into their 2026-27 campaign and one day away from their first preseason game. They've practiced five times and finally get to battle a different opponent tomorrow.

Wednesday evening, They take on the Minnesota Timberwolves at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. That's where Tyrese Haliburton played his college basketball, and he played a major part in the game being played at that site. More to come on that. In the meantime, it's an important game for a Pacers team with a unique combination of established pieces and question marks as they hit the preseason.

"We're playing a high-level team, which is great. They're big, physical, playoff experience, high aspirations," head coach Rick Carlisle said of the Timberwolves. "You have to believe that every team in that position is looking to get off to a strong start in preseason as well as the regular season."

Carlisle wouldn't share how much his main pieces will play tomorrow, but Haliburton is certain to play at least some with the game being at his alma mater. The star guard shared that his dream would be to play all four quarters, but conversations about his playing time hadn't taken place as of Tuesday's practice. His true hope is at least one half of the game.

Circle City Spin

The Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever, up close

Circle City SpinTony East

Judging the uniform colors being worn at the time of media entering the courts at the St. Vincent Center, the Pacers did a fair bit of mixing and matching with lineups on Tuesday. That's natural ahead of a tune-up game. While the offseason is spent wondering about rotations and starters and second units, in reality most of every NBA game is played with a combination of starters and bench players on the court.

"Looking forward to playing against other guys too. I think the Timberwolves are going to be a really good team in the league this year," Haliburton said.

T.J. McConnell and Quenton Jackson were getting up jumpers at the end of practice after missing Sunday's FanJam scrimmage. Both appeared to be dressed for practice.

Elsewhere, James Johnson finished one made three short of ringing the bell (making 20+ out of 25 threes in a shooting drill) while Haliburton and Obi Toppin both succeeded in doing so.

During Johnson's run through the drill, McConnell was the one passing him the ball – usually a role filled by an assistant coach or basketball intern. Two-way forward Kobe Brown liked the passes so much that he requested McConnell set him up as well. Veteran point guards have that kind of value.

Here's more from inside Day 5 of Pacers training camp.

Injury updates

As noted above, both McConnell and Jackson were absent for FanJam on Sunday. I followed up with Carlisle and asked why.

"Some physical considerations," he began. "But we'll let you know tomorrow who's going to play and who is not going to play."

Both players were moving around well after Tuesday's practice – ditto before FanJam. But they did not play in the scrimmage. Given that each player has been through training camp with the Pacers before, a cautious approach makes the most sense with the season still weeks away. And don't forget that McConnell went down with a hamstring injury in the second quarter of the Pacers preseason opener in Minnesota last season.

That caused him to miss a month, and thus some regular season action. Entering his age 34-season, McConnell should take it easy when appropriate. "You need to re-charge and get your body right," McConnell said of having a longer offseason at media day last week. Later asked about how he measures improvement at his age, McConnell joked and said, "Body aches. I think at this point you can fine tune a lot of things, but I think keeping your body right and ready to go, I think that's the biggest thing for me."

Ames time

The Pacers and Wolves will play at Iowa State's home basketball arena on Wednesday. Tyrese Haliburton called it "my idea," for the game to be played there and added it became easier to plan because his general manager is from Iowa.

Indeed, Chad Buchanan was born in Des Moines, which is less than an hour from Ames. His son Trey was a preferred walkon with the Iowa Hawkeyes basketball team during the 2024-25 season, and Chad played basketball and baseball at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa.

"Once you kind of put that in his ear, he's excited about it too," Haliburton said of Buchanan's reaction to the idea of playing in Ames.

Haliburton wasn't involved much in the specific planning for the event, but he made sure Iowa State students could come to the game by getting tickets for several. "I'm hosting all the students and we'll still have student sections, so I think that'll be fun," Haliburton said. "I don't know if it'll be all Pacer fans in there."

It was important to Haliburton that students be there. They can provide a college atmosphere while getting an NBA viewing experience. "I think it's cool because a lot of the students now were kids when I was in college," Haliburton said. "When I was 18 in college, some of these kids were like 10 years old, as crazy as that is to say. So I think it'll be fun for everybody. I know there's nobody as passionate about Iowa State as the current students."

Carlisle said that this event was supposed to happen in 2025, but was cancelled and moved to Minnesota. That's where the Pacers first preseason game – the aforementioned one in which McConnell went down with an injury – took place. Finally, the Pacers and Haliburton will get to Ames on Wednesday.

Thank you for reading. I will be in Ames tomorrow, so stay tuned for some insights from Hilton Coliseum. And sign up for more Pacers and Fever stories delivered straight to your email inbox. Several people have signed up since training camp began – the support is much appreciated.