Rick Carlisle on Tyrese Haliburton: "He's back."

After getting trounced in their home opener on Friday, the Indiana Pacers were on a mission to bounce back in Brooklyn on Sunday night. The result? Vintage Pacers basketball behind a vintage Haliburton performance. Here's what the road team brought to the table in game number of the season:

Seven players in double-figures.

Thirty-four assists.

Twenty-one threes.

And even a highlight dunk from Tyrese Haliburton.

Haliburton led the way with 24 points and 10 assists. He shot 8-for-13 from the field, added two steals, and was a +29 for the night. He made a lot of big plays, but it was his dunk that energized the bench.

"There's a statement to be read there, and that is, he's back. He's back," Rick Carlisle said about his star point guard. "That's the first off-two-feet dunk I've seen him have in the NBA. That's a very strong statement, and it was a momentum play too."

On the dunk itself, Carlisle added, "Awesome. I don't mind stuff like that once he makes it."

"Sometimes you just got to commit to the bit. I just committed fully," Haliburton said about the dunk after the game. "I think it was the ABA jerseys."

Through the first three games, Haliburton is averaging 21.7 points, 9.7 assists, and 1.3 steals, while shooting 53% from the field.

"He makes the game easy," said teammate Jay Huff. "It takes some time to figure out teammates you haven't played with, but he's easy to play with."

Some wondered if the Pacers would keep him out of back-to-backs in the early part of the year, but Haliburton confirmed he will be playing in Milwaukee on Monday night. It's another great sign for Indy's franchise player who continues to prove he is, in fact, fully himself again on the court. It's not just the stat line. It's the infectious joy he brings to the game, and how he consistently makes everyone around him that much better.

As for his teammates, it was a balanced attacked and a 3-point barrage. Pascal Siakam had 21 points. Obi Toppin added 16. Andrew Nembhard, Jay Huff, and Kelly Oubre Jr. all had 14, and Aaron Nesmith added 13. The team connected on 21 3's, which has been done less than 30 times in franchise history. When the ball is moving and the 3's are falling, it can be one of the most exciting teams to watch in the NBA.

"We developed a good rhythm as the game went on," said Carlisle. "I thought we took, for the most part, very good ones (3's)."

While Rick Carlisle has declared Haliburton "back," the point guard is taking things one day at a time, both personally and with his team. "We don't really care about outside expectations," said Haliburton. "Our goal is to win a championship and we're just gonna take it day by day to get there."

The Pacers will head to Milwaukee to face former teammate Myles Turner and the Bucks on Monday night before returning home Wednesday against LeBron James and the Sixers.