2021-22 Game Rewind

Brendan Rourke

The Pacers tried to shake up the Eastern Conference’s playoff standings in their final game of the season. But, while the Blue & Gold gave it their all in attempting to play spoiler, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and company proved to be too much to overcome. Indiana erased a 16-point halftime hole and tied the game twice in the third quarter. Unfortunately, they never took the lead. The Pacers (25-57) capped their tumultuous campaign with a 134-126 defeat to Brooklyn (44-38) at Barclays Center.

Irving led the way with a game-high 35 points, and Durant finished with a triple-double after a rough start. The star tallied 20 points, 10 boards, and a career-high 16 assists. The Nets also found extreme success on the inside against the Pacers' small interior, as they scored 74 points in the paint — 18 from Andre Drummond. He finished with 20 total points.

Meanwhile, seven Pacers finished in double figures to end the season. Oshae Brissett finished strong, recording a team-high 28 points and eight rebounds, and Buddy Hield added 21 points, including five triples. Additionally, Tyrese Haliburton recorded a 17-point, 10-assist double-double, while Duane Washington Jr. posted 18 points off the bench. Head coach Rick Carlisle offered his summary of the contest during postgame interviews.

"(It was) a disappointing first half but a great second half," he said. "But once again it's 48 (minutes). And we're going to have to do a lot better as we move forward next year.

It was another quick start for a Pacers opponent as Brooklyn scored the first eight points of the contest. Their edge stayed that way over the next several minutes.

Indiana got back on track midway through the frame. First, Brissett hit the squad’s second triple. Then, on the Nets’ inbound play, Hield performed his best T.J. McConnell impression and picked off the entry pass for the easy finish. The heads-up play trimmed the deficit to 18-13 with 6:10 remaining.

However, Brooklyn quickly ended the momentum shift, using a 17-4 run over the next 3:05 to grab a 30-17 lead.

Down the stretch, the Blue & Gold used a 7-0 run to get within striking distance. But, Brooklyn used the paint to regain control. Irving capped the Nets’ 41-point first quarter with a buzzer-beating fadeaway along the baseline. Indiana trailed 41-29 after one.

Brooklyn opened the frame with back-to-back threes, threatening to pull away. But, the Pacers countered with six quick transition points to negate it. The run included two stellar assists from Gabe York to Duane Washington Jr.

Washington continued to help the Pacers stay within reach. At the 7:30 mark, the rookie drilled his fourth bucket of the half — his first from deep — to cut the gap to 52-40.

Yet, the Blue & Gold struggled to contain the Nets' offense on the other end. Without a big center to defend the paint, the buckets fell too easily. Consecutive dunks from Drummond gave Brooklyn a 62-45 advantage with 4:22 to go.

A string of crafty Pacers buckets, including one off a flashy dime from Lance Stephenson, trimmed the Pacers' deficit to 68-55 with 1:54 to play. But, Brooklyn stretched its advantage to 76-60 before halftime.

Mimicking Brooklyn's second-quarter start, Indiana began the third quarter with back-to-back threes. Hield and McConnell's snipes forced the Nets to call an early timeout at the 10:38 mark.

Despite the stoppage, the Blue & Gold extended their streak to 11 unanswered points after Brissett and Haliburton joined the party. Although Bruce Brown broke the run with a jumper, Brissett would retaliate with back-to-back threes to cut the deficit to 78-77 with 8:33 remaining. In total, it was a 17-2 Indiana run, with nine coming from the Syracuse forward.

Although Brooklyn remained ahead, Indiana was fully back into the game. After draining his third triple, McConnell found Jackson for an alley-oop slam to cut the deficit to 87-84 with 6:25 left.

With 4:40 remaining, the Pacers earned an 89-89 tie after McConnell found Terry Taylor for a running layup. After Brooklyn responded, Taylor tied it again with a layup off a Hield dish.

But with two opportunities to take its first lead, Indiana came up short. Among the misses, the Nets reeled off a 7-0 run to regain a 98-91 lead with 1:51 remaining. Indiana failed to respond, and Brooklyn led 103-94 going into the final frame.

Brooklyn briefly extended the lead to double digits. But Indiana shrank it immediately. After a couple of Pacer trips to the charity stripe, Washington hit his fourth triple to cut the deficit to 107-103 with 9:39 left.

However, the Nets responded with six straight — four from Irving — to stretch their lead to 113-103 with 7:58 left.

Yet, Indiana was not going away quietly. Trailing 120-108, Brissett and Hield combined for five straight to trim the deficit to seven with 5:26 remaining.

Two buckets from Irving, including a crisp step-back three, pushed the Nets’ lead to 127-115 with 3:46 left. Brissett attempted to start a rally with four straight, cutting the gap to eight. After Brooklyn sank three free throws, he added another layup.

Then, with 1:26 to go, Hield brought the margin to 130-124 with his fifth 3-pointer. But that was as close as they got down the stretch. The Nets sealed the deal with a dunk from Brown.

In his third consecutive game, T.J. McConnell (14 points, five assists) finished a team-high +7 in 30:52 of action.

Lance Stephenson and Terry Taylor each finished with 10 points off the bench in their final appearances of the season. Stephenson added five assists while Taylor tallied six offensive rebounds.

The Pacers committed just seven turnovers for the game — a season low.

Brooklyn shot 69 percent (29-of-42) from the floor in the first half and 64.2 percent (52-of-81) for the game.

"It's great. You have to be proud of the fight. (We) just have to go into the offseason, see what we can do here, and come back and make a run at the playoffs next year. I think we'll have the pieces to do that." –McConnell on ending the season with a valiant effort

"We have to keep finding high-character guys that love to play. That's what it is. He's also a great competitor, and his competitive spirit is the reason he's in this league to start with. He's built a career, and in his mind, there was no way he wasn't going to play if he was able. That’s a beautiful thing." –Carlisle on McConnell’s return and impact

Indiana allowed a season-high 74 points in the paint to the Nets — 55.2 percent of their total score.

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Game Rewind: Pacers 126, Nets 134

Wheat Hotchkiss

Playing their penultimate game of the 2021-22 season, the shorthanded Pacers battled, but came up short for the second straight time against Joel Embiid and the 76ers.

Embiid tallied 41 points and 20 rebounds as the Sixers (50-31) beat Indiana for the second time this week, sweeping a home-and-home set with a 133-120 victory in Philadelphia.

The loss was the ninth straight for Indiana (25-56). The Blue & Gold will close out the season on Sunday in Brooklyn.

Oshae Brissett led seven Pacers in double figures on Saturday, tallying 20 points on 3-of-5 3-point shooting and seven rebounds. Tyrese Haliburton added 19 points and nine assists, while Isaiah Jackson tallied 17 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks.

Fresh off dropping 45 points on Indiana on Tuesday, Embiid picked up where he left off against the Pacers. The All-NBA center scored Philly's first six points on Saturday. The Sixers added to their lead via a James Harden layup, Tobias Harris dunk, and Danny Green 3-pointer before Embiid scored again to cap a 15-3 Philadelphia run to start the game.

"They set the tone early and we were fighting from behind all game," Haliburton said. "That kind of feels what it's been like for a few games."

The Pacers finally got a little offense thanks to rookie big man Jackson, who converted an and-one alley oop off a dish from T.J. McConnell and then knocked down a three on the very next possession.

But Philadelphia's big three of Embiid, Harden, and Harris combined for 28 points (including 11 at the free throw line) in the first quarter as the hosts took a 37-23 lead into the second.

28-year-old rookie Gabe York, signed to a two-way contract by Indiana on Thursday after a stellar season with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in the G League, made his NBA debut late in the opening frame. York subbed in with 1:26 remaining in the first quarter, missed a three on his first possession, but drew a foul the next trip down the floor and made one of two free throws for his first NBA points.

York added three more points after converting a layup plus the foul with 8:24 remaining in the ensuing frame. But five straight points by Tyrese Maxey following York's bucket pushed the Sixers' lead to 20 for the first time, 53-33.

The Pacers trailed by 21 late in the half, but closed with an 11-2 run over the final three minutes of the second quarter. Duane Washington Jr. scored seven in that spurt, while Haliburton added the other four. The Blue & Gold headed into halftime trailing just 66-54.

The Sixers wasted no time building their lead back up after the intermission. Maxey scored six points as Philadelphia opened the third quarter with a 10-2 run.

But the Pacers mounted a charge from there, answering with a 17-7 spurt of their own. Haliburton's floater cut the deficit to 83-73 with 6:12 remaining in the third quarter.

They continued their run after a timeout, with Jackson showing off his dexterity while converting a lob from Buddy Hield and then, after an Embiid turnover, Brissett knocking down a transition three to make it a five-point game.

Embiid halted the surge by drilling a three from the left wing. Harden's layup on the next Philadelphia possession made it a double-digit lead once again. Indiana was back within seven following Washington's jumper with 32 seconds left in the frame, but Maxey hit a late three to push the Sixers' lead back to 100-90 entering the fourth quarter.

The Pacers twice cut the deficit to eight in the opening minutes of the final frame, but each time Embiid answered with a jumper on the other end. The latter time sparked a 9-0 Sixers run that stretched the hosts' lead back to 117-100.

Indiana never got back within single digits, as the 76ers held on down the stretch to secure a 50-win season.

Embiid hit two free throws with a minute remaining to surpass the 40-point mark. The big man finished the night 14-for-17 from the field, 2-for-2 from 3-point range, and 11-for-15 from the free throw line.

"He's making a strong push for MVP," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said of Embiid's dominance "...We haven't seen a guy quite like this, really in the history of the league, that has this kind of power and skill and ability to score on all three levels really effortlessly. He's an amazing player."

Washington scored 15 points off the bench for Indiana. McConnell, playing his second game after missing over four months due to wrist surgery, tallied 12 points and six assists.

Hield finished with 12 points and Terry Taylor added 10 off the bench for Indiana.

Harden collected 22 points and 14 assists for Philadelphia, while Harris and Maxey added 18 points apiece.

Brissett scored 20 points for the the sixth time this season and the fourth time in his last eight games.

The Pacers shot 52.6 percent from the field, their 20th game this season making at least half of their shots.

In his NBA debut, York finished with seven points on 2-of-5 shooting, one rebound, two assists, and one block in 15 minutes.

Embiid inched closer to wrapping up his first career scoring title with his 13th 40-point game of the season. He entered the day averaging 30.4 points per game, with Giannis Antetokounmpo his closest competition at 29.9 points per game.

"Just stopped fouling. I think that was our biggest thing — keep them off the free throw line. That's an art for them that they have pretty well down pat as a team. So we just had to figure it out, show our hands as much as possible." -Haliburton on the keys to the Pacers' second-half rally

"He did a terrific job today. He got his first foul 15 seconds into the game. That was a concern, but (he) adjusted well. He only had two more fouls and was guarding a guy who can well be the MVP...He's learning a lot. He put a lot of pressure on the rim with his rolls and his rebounding I thought was good." -Carlisle on Jackson's performance

"I feel like playing on the floor with him, it opens up the whole offense. The way I get on the rim and the way he gets downhill, it sort of goes hand in hand." -Jackson on having quick chemistry with McConnell despite his four-month absence

"Oshae was really good tonight and he's had a lot of strong games this year. The last game he had kind of a rough night shooting the ball, but tonight he jumped into it, hit a three, did a lot of good things with running, cutting." -Carlisle on Brissett

"It's exciting. Obviously to get your first bucket, a guy whose journey's been all over the place, it's exciting for him to get that first bucket. I thought he played well." -Haliburton on York, who was presented a game ball in the locker room after the game

Embiid recorded his third 40-point, 20-rebound game on Saturday. All three of those games have come against the Pacers, but Saturday was the first time he accomplished the feat in a win. He had 40 points and 21 rebounds against the Blue & Gold in Philadelphia on Dec. 14, 2018 and tallied 41 points and 21 boards against Indiana in the bubble in Orlando on Aug. 1, 2020.

The Pacers head to Brooklyn for their final game of the season to take on Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and the Nets on Sunday, April 10 at 3:30 PM ET.

Broadcast Information TV & Radio Listings »

TV: Bally Sports Indiana - Chris Denari (play-by-play), Quinn  Buckner (analyst), Jeremiah Johnson (studio host)
Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan - Mark Boyle (play-by-play), Pat Boylan (studio host)

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Game Rewind: Pacers 120, 76ers 133

After a near-historic comeback against the Nuggets, the Pacers showed heart while playing one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference Friday night.

The Blue & Gold (25-53) battled down to the wire with the Boston Celtics (48-30) at TD Garden – a place where Indiana had lost four straight. But unfortunately, at the final whistle, the Pacers fell short again, 128-123.

Whistles were a common thorn in Indiana’s side tonight during the effort. The squad racked up 30 fouls and handed Boston 28 free-throw attempts. With 8:13 left to play, Tyrese Haliburton’s spectacular night ended early, as he picked up his sixth foul for the second time in his career. He finished with 30 points on 10-of-11 shooting, including 6-of-6 from long range.

“He was aggressive,” Rick Carlisle said of Haliburton’s play. He got himself going. He got himself on a roll.”

“He was able to go 10-for-11 from the field without disrupting what we were doing as a team. That’s a sign of a great point guard.”

Indiana also had trouble slowing Boston’s dynamic duo, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Brown finished with a game-high 32, while Tatum added 31. They were responsible for nearly half of the Celtics' total points.

It was yet another quick start for a Pacers opponent. The Celtics jumped out to an 11-2 advantage – five from Marcus Smart – in the opening 2:15. Indiana started 0-for-5 from the floor.

However, the game flipped after a timeout. Indiana forced four straight turnovers and scored nine unanswered – five from Haliburton – to knot things at 11 with 8:18 remaining.

From there, the teams settled down and remained in tight quarters. Haliburton kept the Pacers in it several times. His six-foot fadeaway in the paint with 4:58 left gave the game a 19-18 score.

But down the stretch, Brown quickly built the Celtics a multi-possession lead. The forward scored seven unanswered to put the Celtics up 30-21 with 2:46 left. The Pacers’ deficit remained nine as the first quarter ended (37-28).

Indiana started the second quarter with five straight. However, Tatum took over for a spell. The three-time All-Star scored six consecutive points to stretch the gap to 43-33 with 8:54 remaining.

As the halfway mark approached, Haliburton stayed hot and kept the deficit from growing. The 22-year-old knocked in his third and fourth trey, including a 30-foot stepback snipe, to trim Indiana’s deficit to 48-41 with 6:46 left.

The young guard continued to pilot the Pacers’ offense and keep the margin within single digits. He hit the 20-point mark with 3:47 to play on a beautiful floater in the paint. The bucket cut the gap to 58-51.

Buddy Hield and Brissett then knocked in triples to help trim the deficit to 62-57 with just under two minutes to play. Then, they got to within three after Haliburton and Terry Taylor each dropped in a pair of freebies at the line. Unfortunately, the Celtics scored the final four points of the frame to stretch the gap to 68-61 before the break.

Two swats from Goga Bitadze and another Haliburton three highlighted Indiana’s early third-quarter performance. The plays kept Boston's advantage at single digits. Then, at the 7:58 mark, Haliburton drilled his sixth trey of the night, a dart from the right corner, to cut the gap to 76-71. It appeared as if no matter what Boston did offensively, Indiana had an answer on the other end.

The story remained the same as time ticked under five minutes of the period. Although Haliburton hit the 30-point mark on a pair of free throws, Tatum countered with a 24-foot 3-pointer in transition to keep up the pressure. Then, Bitadze fed Smith with a beautiful no-look pass for an easy dunk to give the game an 84-77 score.

Trailing 86-77, Smith followed a Brissett triple with a coast-to-coast dunk at the 3:17 mark. However, Tatum and Smart doubled the deficit with back-to-back buckets.

Nonetheless, Indiana had another answer. Lance Stephenson and Isaiah Jackson earned back-to-back buckets in the paint. Then, with 1:13 to play, Hield drilled a 32-foot trey to cut the gap to 90-89. But, Boston pushed its lead back to 96-91 before the quarter expired.

Early in the fourth, the Blue & Gold remained tenacious. After a few physical possessions, Boston earned a 103-95 lead on a Payton Pritchard three. But, Indiana countered with a 6-0 spree – four from Duane Washington Jr. – to trim the deficit to 103-101 with 8:27 remaining.

At the 8:13 mark, Haliburton’s night ended early. The guard fouled out after battling Brown for position along the baseline. To make matters worse, Derrick White finished Boston’s possession with a three to give the Celtics a 106-101 edge.

The Celtics earned an eight-point lead over the next few minutes. But, Indiana came right back. Smith, Bitadze, and Stephenson drilled treys in a 9-3 Pacers run to cut the deficit to 114-112 with 5:31 to play.

But again, they could not get over the hump. The hosts notched five straight to stretch the lead to seven with 3:15 left.

Trailing 122-116 with 1:26 left, Brissett nailed a triple from the left side to halve the lead. But, Brown had an answer 13 seconds later. His pull-up jumper pushed the Celtics ahead by five.

When the Celtics pushed the lead to six again, Brissett answered with another three. But White put the game on ice with a layup with 14.4 seconds left.

Oshae Brissett and Jalen Smith tallied 17 apiece to help the Pacers’ efforts. Both players also hauled in six rebounds

Lance Stephenson added an 11-point, 11-assist double-double off the bench.

The Pacers forced 16 Celtics turnovers which turned into 24 points

Boston outscored Indiana in the paint, 62-46

“The last time I was here, I lost by 53. I had that on my mind coming into it. I was just trying to be aggressive. The first ones felt good. We started slow so I just tried to get us going and I just kept it going” – Haliburton on tonight

“Tyrese is a very mature kid – mature beyond his years. He has a great understanding of the game. He has a natural intrinsic understanding of leadership and what that entails...He understands the opportunity that’s before him. He’s very humble about what that means.” – Carlisle on Haliburton’s future

Despite earning two ties and coming back to within one of the lead, Indiana never led in the game

The Pacers tip off their final homestand of the season on Sunday, April 3, when they welcome Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons to Gainbridge Fieldhouse at 5:00 PM ET. Find Tickets »

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Game Rewind: Pacers 123, Celtics 128

The Pacers nearly made history on Wednesday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, coming close to pulling off the largest comeback ever by the franchise.

Indiana looked listless in a disastrous first quarter, falling behind 43-15, the largest deficit any team faced after one quarter in the NBA this season. Bryn Forbes' 3-pointer with 10:06 remaining in the second quarter gave Denver a 31-point lead, 50-19.

But despite the deficit, and despite having eight players out due to injury, the Pacers were a completely different team over the final three quarters. The Blue & Gold mounted a furious charge, taking the lead for the first time with 3:09 remaining in the third quarter and leading with under eight minutes to play in the contest.

In the  end, however, Indiana (25-52) simply ran out of gas. Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets (46-31) righted the ship just enough to avoid an embarrassing collapse, pulling away late for a 125-118 win.

It was a bitter end to an inspiring effort by the undermanned Pacers. Seven of Indiana's nine available players scored in double figures on the night, and all nine of them had a hand in the memorable comeback attempt.

Buddy Hield scored a team-high 20 points for Indiana, while Terry Taylor tallied 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting and nine rebounds in the loss. Goga Bitadze (18 points and 10 rebounds) and Tyrese Haliburton (15 points, 12 assists, five rebounds, and four steals) both recorded double-doubles.

Even the players not playing on Wednesday were all-in. Oshae Brissett, Malcolm Brogdon, Chris Duarte, Isaiah Jackson, T.J. McConnell, and Myles Turner were standing in front of the Pacers' bench for virtually the entire second half, living and dying with each possession.

"Our crowd was great," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said after the game. "When we got way down, they kept encouraging us...They hung with us and we started making some good things happen with heart and unselfish play and carried it through to the latter stages of the fourth. There's things we can build on."

Jokic got the Nuggets' offense rolling early. The reigning MVP scored three baskets and assisted on the other two as Denver opened the night with a 10-2 run.

The Pacers fought back, with Taylor's layup cutting the deficit to 14-10 with 5:39 remaining in the opening quarter. But those would be Indiana's last points for over four minutes. The Blue & Gold missed their next nine shots, a cold stretch made all the more worse by the fact that Denver scored on eight straight possessions.

All in all, it added up to a 20-0 Denver run to give the visitors a commanding lead. Hield's layup at 1:21 ended Indiana's drought, but the Nuggets knocked down 3-pointers on their final three possessions of the frame. The buzzer finally granted the Pacers a merciful reprieve, but the Blue & Gold found themselves in a massive 43-15 hole.

The Pacers' offense finally got going again in the ensuing frame. Reserves Jalen Smith, Keifer Sykes, and Duane Washington Jr. scored five points apiece as Indiana amassed 19 points over the first 4:52 of the second quarter.

Indiana continued to chip away at the Nuggets' lead for the rest of the half. The Pacers managed to trim what was at one point a 31-point Denver lead down to 16 by the intermission thanks to a 38-point quarter. The Blue & Gold entered the locker room at halftime facing a 69-53 deficit.

Their rally continued after the break. Hield's trey 2:08 into the second half made it just a 10-point game at 74-64. Denver pushed the lead back to 81-65 following Monte Morris' 3-pointer with 7:38 remaining in the frame, but the Pacers reeled off 10 straight points over an 80-second span, capped by another Hield three to make it a six-point game.

That forced a Nuggets timeout, but the Pacers kept coming. Bitadze's 3-pointer at 5:02 cut the deficit to three and Taylor's backdoor layup the next time down the floor cut the deficit to one. Remarkably, Haliburton's layup with 3:09 remaining in the third quarter gave Indiana an 86-85 lead.

Jokic scored on the other end to put the Nuggets back in front, but the Blue & Gold surged back ahead shortly thereafter on a highlight-reel play. On a fast break, Haliburton delivered a spinning, no-look dish to Smith from the right wing, which the second-year big man finished with a ferocious dunk to give the Pacers a 91-89 lead with 1:06 remaining in the quarter.

"Just having fun with it," Haliburton said of the sequence. "(I saw) Stix (Smith) kind of running down the middle and I knew I was going to hit him. So I just kind of put the extra flair on it to get myself going and get the arena going."

Denver's Bones Hyland managed to get to the rim and score at the third-quarter buzzer to tie the game entering the fourth.

The lead changed hands five times over the first three minutes of the final frame. Pacers guard Lance Stephenson and Nuggets guard Austin Rivers each picked up technical fouls after an exchange at the 8:41 mark, then Rivers picked up a second technical and was ejected with the game tied at 100 after throwing an elbow at Stephenson on Denver's next possession.

Sykes' layup gave Indiana a 102-100 lead with 7:40 remaining, but the Nuggets responded with seven unanswered points to take the first multi-possession lead for either team in the frame.

Two Bitadze free throws with 5:14 to play cut the deficit to 107-104, but four straight points from Denver pushed the margin back to seven. Jokic and the Nuggets kept the Pacers at an arm's length the rest of the way.

"We've just got to bottle that up and figure out how we can do that and sustain that," Haliburton said of the comeback that almost was. "...I thought a lot of guys did a lot of different things very well."

Smith finished with 15 points and seven rebounds in the loss. Justin Anderson added 13 points, while Sykes scored 10.

Jokic seemingly single-handedly carried the Nuggets to victory, finishing with 37 points on 15-of-19 shooting, 13 rebounds, and nine assists.

Hyland added 20 points and seven assists off the bench for Denver, while Will Barton scored 18.

The Pacers will travel to Boston on Friday to take on the Celtics before returning to Indianapolis for their final homestand, which tips off on Sunday against Detroit and concludes on Tuesday against Philadelphia.

The Nuggets shot 62.5 percent from the field, the highest field-goal percentage by a Pacers opponent since Orlando shot 63.6 percent in a win over Indiana on March 15, 2008.

Indiana scored 25 points off 20 Nuggets turnovers. The Pacers only committed eight turnovers on the other end.

Bitadze scored in double figures for the ninth straight time and recorded his second double-double of the season.

Haliburton registered a double-double for the ninth time in 21 games as a Pacer.

Hield went 5-for-11 from 3-point range, the third time in his last five games that he made five or more threes.

The Pacers outrebounded Denver 18-8 on the offensive glass. Eight of Taylor's nine rebounds came on the offensive end.

The Pacers' 15 points in the first quarter were their fewest in the opening frame this season, while Denver's 43 points were one shy of the most by a Pacers opponent in the first quarter this season.

"It was great to experience the second and third quarters in particular. The level of competitiveness, the level of togetherness, collective will, all those things was phenomenally high." -Carlisle

"I thought we battled the right way, defended the right way, got out into transition. That's when we're a lot of fun. I think the crowd got us involved and I think that's what got us going." -Haliburton on the keys to the comeback

"Last game, I just feel like I didn't rebound or contribute on the boards like I usually do. So I made a conscious effort to attack the boards today. I never have a problem going up against whoever it is, I always feel like I can rebound with the best of them." -Taylor on his success on the offensive glass

"He's a smart guy. He figures out the way to fit in. He figures out how to play to his strengths and cover his weaknesses, and he's always working on his weaknesses. He's really a lot about what Indiana is about: the hard work, the commitment, the vision, the getting better, and the unselfishness. He's just a super unselfish guy and very much beloved by his teammates." -Carlisle on Taylor's contributions

After being outscored 43-15 in the first quarter, the Pacers won the next two quarters by a combined margin of 76-48 to tie the game.

The Pacers travel to Boston to take on Jayson Tatum and the Celtics on Friday, April 1 at 7:30 PM ET.

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Game Rewind: Pacers 118, Nuggets 125

Coming off a pair of road losses, the Pacers hoped a trip back home would bring good fortunes.

Unfortunately, a red-hot Atlanta Hawks (38-37) offense had other plans. Despite the shorthanded Pacers putting up a fight, the visitors shot 54.7 percent from the field and dropped 17 threes to dispatch the shorthanded Pacers, 132-123 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

"We're in a tough spot with personnel," Rick Carlisle said. "But we have to do our best. And we didn't do our best tonight."

Playing an eight-man rotation, six Pacers (25-51) finished in double figures. The former Kings duo of Buddy Hield and Tyrese Haliburton tallied 26 and 25 points, respectively. Haliburton also added 13 assists. Keifer Sykes also had a solid night, finishing with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-6 from deep. Goga Bitadze recorded 14 points and five boards, while Lance Stephenson finished with a bench-high 13 points.

The squads remained in tight quarters over the opening minutes. Hield provided all the offense for Indiana, scoring the first eight Pacers points. However, tied at eight apiece with 9:01 left, the visitors rattled off seven unanswered in 60 seconds, forcing the Blue & Gold to call a timeout.

Although the Hawks stayed hot from deep, Indiana chewed into the lead. Trailing 21-13, the squad mounted a 7-0 spree to cut the deficit to one with 5:38 left. A few moments later, the Blue & Gold answered another three with a beautiful bucket. Justin Anderson hurled a three-quarter court pass to an open Terry Taylor to make it a 26-24 ballgame with 3:57 remaining.

But the Hawks' offense remained scorching. Young drilled the visitors’ 10th trey of the frame with 1:14 remaining. The Pacers fell into a 44-30 hole after the first quarter.

Atlanta soon stretched the advantage to 18 points as Indiana struggled to slow its offense. At the 9:23 mark, Bogdan Bogdanovic nailed the visitors' 11th triple. Yet, the Blue & Gold were determined to hang around. Trailing 56-39, Tyrese Haliburton dropped in back-to-back pull-up triples to trim the deficit to 11 with 7:26 left.

The Blue & Gold trimmed the gap to 11 two more times over the next few minutes. Yet, Atlanta appeared to have the answers. Finally, the squad cut the margin to single digits as Keifer Sykes drilled his second triple at the 2:11 mark.

But the Hawks' buckets still rained in too easily. After Sykes’ trey, Atlanta reeled off a 6-1 run — all from the paint — to increase their lead to 74-60 with 38.8 seconds remaining. The Pacers managed to cut the gap to 74-63 before halftime.

Indiana countered a Delon Wright trey with seven unanswered to start the third. Hield, Anderson, and Bitadze earned buckets as the Pacers cut the gap to 77-70. However, the Hawks soon found their footing and managed to keep the Pacers from coming closer. Wright’s floater with 7:16 to play pushed Atlanta’s edge to 87-77 and prompted an Indiana timeout.

Although Atlanta stayed hot, Indiana remained in rhythm. Sykes and Hield each hit their fourth three of the contest to keep Indiana hanging around. At the 3:59 mark, Jalen Smith joined the action, draining his first trey to make it a 94-86 ballgame. He added a jumper less than a minute later to cut the gap to six. The spree forced a Hawks timeout with 3:08 left.

Unfortunately, that would be as close as they got in the frame. Atlanta closed the stanza with an 8-2 run — five from Bogdanovic — to take a 102-90 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Hawks opened the fourth quarter with a 7-2 spurt to stretch the gap to 17. But, Stephenson kept the Pacers within striking distance by answering with four straight. Atlanta led 109-96 with 9:31 left.

As the midway mark approached, Indiana stayed in stride. Despite Atlanta scoring at will, the Pacers matched them. On three separate occasions, the Blue & Gold kept the Hawks’ advantage to 13. Hield and Taylor each did it with triples, while Bitadze added a bucket in the paint to do it again. The squad’s tenacity forced the Hawks to call a timeout with 6:24 left. Indiana trailed 119-106.

With 5:29 remaining, the Blue & Gold finally broke that barrier on a pair of Stephenson free throws. Bitadze then added a spinning layup to cut the deficit to 121-112.

But, as time ticked away, so did the Pacers' comeback hopes. While the offense clicked, the defense struggled to stop Atlanta’s offense. With 3:08 left, Kevin Huerter provided the Hawks with their 17th 3-pointer. The bucket stretched their advantage to 129-116.

Down the stretch, Haliburton gave the Pacers one final chance. The 22-year-old tallied five points to cut the gap to 130-121 with 1:07 remaining. But, it turned out to be too little, too late.

Both teams finished with 32 assists. Trae Young tallied a season-high 16 dishes for Atlanta.

Atlanta outscored Indiana in the paint, 50-36.

The Hawks outrebounded the Pacers, 40-28, including 13-8 on the offensive glass.

"I thought the balance was good. 19 shots is a lot of shots. But when your best players are taking them, and they’re good looks, that's what you want. He's going to get assists. His vision is so good. He has a sense for delivering the ball in rhythm and on time." –Carlisle on Haliburton's play

"I'm just collecting and being more calm with myself. (I'm) trusting my work and trusting what got me here. I just work with the coaching staff every day and watch film to see how I can be effective. I'm taking good shots now." –Hield on his increased performance since coming to Indiana

With his five threes, Buddy Hield moved into 50th place in career 3-point field goals made. He passed two-time NBA champion Brent Barry.

The Pacers welcome Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets to Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Wednesday, March 30 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets »

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Game Rewind: Pacers 123, Hawks 132

There was nothing normal about Saturday's Pacers game in Toronto.

Indiana began the night with just eight healthy players and without head coach Rick Carlisle, who did not travel on the team's two-game road trip due to personal reasons. Things got even stranger late in the first half, when Scotiabank Arena was evacuated and the game was suspended for over an hour due to a small electrical fire before resuming action without fans.

That delayed the outcome of the game, but the contest was effectively decided by that point. The Pacers (25-50) already trailed by 28 at the time of the delay and never seriously threatened afterwards, falling to the Raptors (42-32), 131-91.

Toronto native and former Raptor Oshae Brissett kept the Pacers close early, scoring 11 of Indiana's first 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting. The Pacers trailed just 18-16 following Brissett's layup with 5:10 left in the first quarter.

But five different Raptors hit 3-pointers over the final five minutes of the frame as Toronto closed the period with a 23-5 run to take a 41-21 lead into the second quarter.

Precious Achiuwa made one of those 3-pointers, then knocked down three more triples in the first five minutes of the second quarter, helping Toronto maintain a commanding lead. The hosts had extended their lead to 66-38 when the Pacers took a timeout with 4:05 remaining.

At that point, the game was then suspended. The fire chief made the call at 8:25 PM ET to send both teams back to their respective locker rooms and ask all fans to evacuate the building to allow firefighters to tend to an electrical fire on a speaker in the rafters.

After over an hour-long delay, the game resumed at 9:30. Fans were not allowed back into the building. Justin Anderson scored five points for the Pacers during the restart, but Indiana still trailed by 28 at halftime, 74-46.

"15 years for me, probably the most bizarre situation that we've been in for a game," Pacers coach Lloyd Pierce said. "I really give both teams and all of the players credit for going into the locker room, being deactivated, and then having to come back out on the floor and add 10 minutes to the clock and get going again."

After an abbreviated intermission, the teams resumed action once more. Anderson, Jalen Smith, and then Tyrese Haliburton knocked down 3-pointers on Indiana's first three possessions of the third quarter.

Still, the Blue & Gold were unable to make any headway in the frame. They endured a three-and-a-half-minute scoreless drought later in the period and trailed after three quarters, 96-70.

The Raptors extended their lead in the fourth quarter, pushing the margin as high as 42 points.

"We definitely came out really flat," Brissett said after the loss. "They were hitting a lot of shots, obviously, a lot of threes, everyone was on fire for them today. But there's obviously more that we could have done. Coming out with more fire, more energy is something that we've got to pick up."

Brissett led four Pacers in double figures with 21 points while also collecting eight rebounds and four steals.

Anderson added 18 points, six boards, and four assists while going 4-for-7 from 3-point range. Smith tallied 15 points, six rebounds, and three blocks, while Buddy Hield scored 14 and went 4-for-8 from beyond the arc.

Pascal Siakam led all scorers with 23 points, six rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. Scottie Barnes added 19 points, six boards, and seven assists for Toronto, while Achiuwa finished with 18 points off the bench, going 4-for-5 from 3-point range.

With the win and Cleveland's loss in Chicago on Saturday, Toronto moved into sixth place in the Eastern Conference with eight games remaining in the regular season. The top six teams at the conclusion of the regular season automatically advance to the playoffs and avoid having to take part in the Play-In Tournament.

The Pacers will return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for a two-game homestand next week, hosting Atlanta on Monday and Denver on Wednesday.

Brissett topped 20 points for the fourth time this season.

Haliburton scored just seven points on 2-of-7 shooting, but did dish out 12 assists, his eighth time tallying double-digit assists in 19 games with Indiana.

The Raptors outscored Indiana 62-32 in points in the paint.

Toronto went 15-for-32 (46.9 percent) from 3-point range, while the Pacers were 11-for-36 (30.6 percent).

The Raptors scored 22 points off of 14 Pacers turnovers while only committing six giveaways themselves, one more than a season low by a Pacers opponent.

"We were all confused kind of like how everyone else was. Just sitting there waiting, whole bunch of questions going around, whole bunch of thoughts going around. But we have to deal with what we're given. We went back out there and tried to do something, but we fell short." -Brissett on the players' reaction after being sent to the locker room

"It made sense to finish this game while we're here. The alternative of trying to figure it out just seemed tough. If safe and the fire marshal having the ability to determine that the building would be safe, then we were going to try to figure out how to finish the game." -Pierce on the decision to finish the game

"I got a whole bunch of texts (from) friends, family. They were really mad, but it was good that they came to support and  watch what they did get to see. Just glad that everyone was safe getting out." -Brissett on the reaction from his friends and family who attended Saturday's game

The Pacers' 40-point loss on Saturday was their largest margin of defeat this season and the largest since a 46-point loss in Toronto on Feb. 23, 2020. It was just the fifth time in NBA franchise history that Indiana lost by 40 or more.

2021‑22 Game Rewind

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Game Rewind: Pacers 123, Celtics 128

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Game Rewind: Pacers 123, Hawks 132

Game Rewind: Pacers 91, Raptors 131

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Game Rewind: Pacers 129, Trail Blazers 98