The Pacers rose up strong for their final road back-to-back game and broke a couple NBA franchise records along the way.
The Pacers showed up to face the Wizards in D.C., looking to move past the painful loss to the Lakers the prior night, and it didn’t take long for the Pacers to take out their frustrations on the Wiz who showed up looking more like theWashington Generals as the Pacers pasted their hosts, 162-109.
The numbers are so crazy from this game that it is hard to know where to begin. I guess, the first two offensive possession is appropriate as an indicator for how the game may go. Tyrese Haliburton opened the game with a three-pointer, then the next time down, Andrew Nembhard hit a three.
The Pacers were off to the races as they scored 45 first quarter points, 83 first half points and of course, 162 points for the game which set a new NBA Pacers record for points in a game, surpassing the prior record of 157. And that includes Rick Carlisle shutting down the offense for the final two minutes of the game.
Haliburton’s three to open the game turned out to be the first of 27 makes (Haliburton made 7 treys) from behind the arc on 47 attempts for the team, also a franchise record. All of those shots came from the Pacers sharing the ball which resulted in a season-high 48 assists. That numbers seems crazier than the number of threes. Particularly when you see Tyrese Haliburton only had 6 assists and no players had double-digit assists. Sharing is caring.
The Pacers bench scored 85 points which kept the game entertaining in the second half as players we don’t normally see in action had plenty of time on the court, including rookie Johnny Furphy. Furph was the last man in, but hit the 24th 3-ball which broke the prior record for threes in a game.
No one can say the Pacers played to the level of their opponent in this one. In the post-game locker room video, Carlisle indicated that his halftime message was to maintain a standard on the defensive end no matter what the score. Considering 14 players saw the court in the second half, I’d say they held up the standard with the Wiz only scoring 48 points.
The best part of the blow out win is that the Pacers didn’t push their starters to play heavy minutes to win. In fact, quite the opposite with Haliburton playing the most minutes at just under 25 minutes with Jarace Walker second in minutes played.
Lost in the wild numbers and offensive good times may be the fact that Walker was the ninth guy off the bench instead of Ben Sheppard. This was late in the first half when the game was far from decided. Fortunately, Shep joined the fun in the second half knocking down a couple of threes, but it appears Walker, who made 4 of 5 threes, has worked his way into the mix.
Walker’s role will be tested on Saturday when the Pacers show up in Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder aka the top team in the NBA. Locking up this stress free win on the road, puts the Pacers in good shape to take their best shot at OKC in their hostile environment. In late December, the Thunder rallied in the fourth quarter to get past the Pacers 120-114. The Pacers remain two games ahead of the Pistons in the Eastern Conference standings as they try to maintain home court advantage for a first round playoff series.
Pacers vs. Thunder
**Where:**Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK
When: Saturday, Mar. 29, 2025, 8:00 p.m. ET
TV: FanDuel Sports Network
Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan
Odds: Pacers +8.5
Projected Starters
Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner
Thunder: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Isaiah Joe, Luguentz Dort, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren
Injuries
Pacers: Isaiah Jackson (Achilles) - out
Thunder: Ousmane Dieng (calf) - out, Alex Ducas (quad) - out, Ajay Mitchell (toe) - out (toe), Nikola Topic (knee) - out, Aaron Wiggins (Achilles) - out
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