Indiana Pacers 129 – LA Clippers 111 (Feb. 23rd, 2025) Game Recap

1. First Quarter

For the last two weeks, the Indiana Pacers have struggled in the opening minutes of games. Tonight’s starters, Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, and Myles Turner, would get off to another slow start. The good news for Indiana was that the Clippers were dreadful in the early minutes. Through the first four minutes of the contest, Indiana’s advantage was 7-3. With 5:30 left in the quarter, a Haliburton three would extend the Pacers lead to eight points. The largest lead in the period for Indiana was nine points when Toppin converted a layup with 3:20 left in the quarter. LA would draw within four points, but the Pacers would extend the lead to go into the second quarter leading 31-24. Turner paced Indiana in scoring with 9 points. James Harden led all scorers in the game with 13 points. Indiana outrebounded the Clippers by four in the opening quarter.

2. Second Quarter

Indiana never trailed in the first quarter, and LA would never threaten in the second quarter of taking the lead either. With 8:54 left in the half, T.J. McConnell gave Indiana its first double digit lead with a layup. A little less than a minute later, Indiana’s lead hit a dozen points with two free throws from Bennedict Mathurin. The closest the Clippers got in the second quarter came from a Harden step back three to make it 49-44. Rick Carlisle’s team answered with a 15-4 run to take a 64-48 lead when Turner splashed his fourth three of the half. LA would outscore Indiana by five points in the final fifty-six seconds to trail 66-55 at intermission. Harden, once again, led all scorers in the quarter with 9 points. He was also the leading scorer at halftime with 22 points. Turner added 8 points in the second to up his first half total to 17 points, leading Indiana. Haliburton was the only other Pacer in double figures with 10 points. LA’s Amir Coffey, 12 points, and Ivica Zubac, 10 points, joined Harden with at least 10 points. In the first half, Indiana held LA to 5/21 (23.8%) from three-point range and -9 on the glass.

3. Third Quarter

In the first half, Indiana didn’t get Siakam involved much. He only converted one of his five field-goal attempts and did not get to the foul line. The second half started with Siakam scoring the first five points to push the advantage back to 16 points. Indiana’s lead would hover between thirteen and sixteen points, before Haliburton caught fire to push the Pacers lead to 20 points. He scored 14 of the next 15 points for the Pacers after the Clippers trimmed their deficit to 13 points. Later in the quarter, Nembhard knocked down a free throw line jumper to give Indiana its largest lead in the quarter, 22 points. After three quarters of play, Indiana went into the fourth quarter leading 101-83. Haliburton led all scorers with 17 points in the period, and in the game with 27 points. He also dished out 12 assists in the first three quarters, his first double-double since January 10th. LA’s leading scorer going into the fourth quarter was Harden with 26 points. In the third quarter, Indiana shot 13/21 (61.9%) from the field. From two-point range, Indiana went 10/13.   

4. Fourth Quarter

With the game pretty much at hand, and both teams playing tomorrow, it was imperative for Indiana to deliver an early knockout blow so the starters could get some extra rest. However, the Pacers couldn’t deliver that final blow. LA’s reserves would make it a 15-point game when MarJon Beauchamp made a free throw. Rick Carlisle was forced to substitute four starters back into the game to put the game away. Indiana wouldn’t deliver a final knockout blow, but the Pacers were able to maintain a lead between fifteen and eighteen points. LA waived the white flag with 4:50 left in the game when Nembhard broke free to the basket for a layup. However, Indiana wouldn’t empty its bench until Nesmith splashed a corner three-pointer with 3:31 left in the game. Thomas Bryant almost scored ten points in the final 3:31 to join seven teammates in double figures, but he finished three points short. Indiana would go on to win 129-111.

5. Top Performers

Tyrese Haliburton (29p, 12a, 3s), Aaron Nesmith (19p, 6r), Myles Turner (17p, 6r, 4a, 2b), T.J. McConnell (13p), Pascal Siakam (12p, 12r, 2a, 1s, 1b), Andrew Nembhard (12p, 5r), and Obi Toppin (10p, 6a, 5r). For LA, James Harden (31p, 11a, 7r, 3s, 2b), Ivica Zubac (22p, 6r), Amir Coffey (14p), and Bogdan Bogdanovic (11p). For tonight’s full box score, click here.

6. Notes

• Indiana is now 32-23 on the season and 16-9 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse
  • Indiana is 16-5 in 2025, only trailing OKC for the best record (18-5)
  • Indiana is 2-0 since the All-Star break
• Indiana is 22-8 in its last 30 games after starting 10-15
• Indiana now has 2 wire-to-wire wins on the season
• Indiana is 4 games behind the New York Knicks for 3rd place in the Eastern Conference
• Indiana improves to 18-2 when Tyrese Haliburton scores 20+ points
• Indiana has had 7 players score 10+ points in back-to-back games
• Indiana’s 10 game streak of being outrebounded by the opponent has been snapped
• Aaron Nesmith’s 19 points are a season high
• Ivica Zubac has scored 20+ points in 18 games this season
• James Harden recorded his 26th double-double on the season
• James Harden has scored 30+ points in 6 games this season
• Myles Turner has converted at least 2 threes in 14 of the last 17 games
• Pascal Siakam recorded his 9th double-double on the season
• Pascal Siakam’s 12 rebounds are the second most in a game this season
• Pascal Siakam’s 12 points are the second fewest in a game this season
  • Siakam snapped his 22-game streak of scoring 15+ points
• Tyrese Haliburton recorded his 16th double-double
  • Haliburton’s first double-double since January 10th – 14 straight games
• Tyrese Haliburton has scored 20+ points in 3 straight games

7. Next Up

Indiana will have very little time to celebrate the win, because the Denver Nuggets are in town tomorrow night for their only visit on the season. Pat Boylan will get things started at 6:30pm with the pregame show and then Mark Boyle will have the play-by-play with Eddie Gill at 7pm on 93.5/107.5 The Fan.