Some help is on the way for the Indiana Pacers for their Tuesday night matchup against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City.
Veteran point guard TJ McConnell is suiting up for his first game in the 2025-26 NBA season — and first since the Pacers made it to the 2025 NBA Finals — as Indiana faces the Jazz at Delta Center.
“T.J. McConnell (left hamstring strain) is available for tonight's game against the Jazz, per Coach Carlisle,” the Pacers announced via a social media post on X, formerly Twitter.
Of course, the news of McConnell's return has sparked lots of excited reactions from Pacers fans.
“T.J coming back to aura farm in our new jersey,” one fan commented.
“Welcome back White Lightning ⚡️,” a hyped social media user on X shared.
“The great white hope 🙏🏻 I feel much much better now!!” a different comment read.
“YES!! Welcome back TJM!!! We missed you!” chimed in another commenter.
“Been a rough start. Glad to see him back,” a different fan said.
McConnell was unable to see action in the first 10 Pacers games in the 2025-26 season, as he dealt with a hamstring injury, thus leaving Indiana's backcourt in a much thinner state. Indiana is already missing star point guard Tyrese Haliburton for the entire 2025-26 season due to an Achilles tear he suffered in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
During that seven-game series, McConnell provided spark off the bench for the Pacers, during which he put up averages of 12.0 points, 4.3 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 2.1 steals in 20.3 minutes per outing. He also shot 55.2 percent from the field and hit 60.0 percent of his attempts from behind the arc in the Thunder series.
Hopefully for the Pacers, McConnell's return can help them snap a four-game losing skid and improve their 1-9 record that's tied for second-worst in the Eastern Conference.
