1. First Quarter

With Andrew Nembhard out tonight with a quad injury, Rick Carlisle was forced to make another change to his starting lineup. Indiana’s starters against the Washington Wizards were Ben Sheppard, Bennedict Mathurin, Jarace Walker, Pascal Siakam, and Jay Huff. Indiana started the game with a Mathurin three-pointer and then missed its next six shots until Huff ended the scoring drought with a triple that ended up being the start on an 8-0 run. Washington then countered with a 7-0 run to retake the lead with 5:28 left in the quarter. The game would stay close for a few minutes until Indiana broke a 21-21 tie with another 6-0 flurry with two minutes left in the opening quarter. Indiana would hold serve down the stretch and go into the second quarter leading 30-24. It was a balanced attack by the Pacers with 8 players scoring in the quarter. Their leading scorer was T.J. McConnell with 6 points. Washington’s leading scorers were Kyshawn George and CJ McCollum with 5 points each.

2. Second Quarter

Indiana’s offense continued its solid play in the second quarter after picking up some steam towards the end of the previous quarter. The game stayed within six points for the first three minutes of the quarter and then Indiana pushed it to 10 points on a Garrison Matthews triple. The Wizards responded with a 12-2 run to tie the game at 48 with 4:20 remaining in the opening half. McConnell got the Pacers offense back on track with a pullup jumper, set up Siakam and Mathurin on consecutive possessions for transition dunks, and then set up Ben Sheppard for a three-pointer to put Indiana back on top by nine points. The Pacers would score the final five points of the half to go into the locker room with a 64-52 advantage. As a team, Indiana scored 34 points in the period, which was six points better than Washington. Pascal Siakam got going in the quarter with 14 points. Alex Sarr had a solid quarter with 10 points for the Wizards. At the break, Siakam’s 17 points were the most by any player followed by Sarr with 13 points and Mathurin with 10 points.

3. Third Quarter

For the first time this season, the Indiana Pacers had a real chance to put a game away in the third quarter, and the Pacers would succeed. Indiana was able to push its lead quickly to 17-points less than ninety seconds into the second half. Jarace Walker pushed the advantage to 18-points with 9:37 left in the quarter. The Wizards were able to shave six points off their deficit in the next three minutes, but the momentum was halted by a Huff connecting on a three. Indiana’s lead hovered between fifteen and seventeen points for the next handful of minutes until the final minute when Isaiah Jackson scored on a layup with 51.4 seconds remaining to put the Pacers on top by 20 points. At the end of the quarter, Garrison Matthews hit a three-pointer to put Indiana on top 94-73 after three quarters. Indiana outscored Washington 30-21 in the quarter with Jarace Walker leading the way for Indiana with 7 points and a total of seven players scoring in the quarter. Washington’s leader in the quarter was Alex Sarr with 8 points. With 12 minutes left, Siakam’s 21 points and 8 rebounds led all players in each category.

4. Fourth Quarter

Indiana saved its best defensive quarter for the end to put Washington away. The Pacers held the Wizards scoreless for the opening 2:35 of the final quarter. During that timeframe, Indiana scored eight points to go ahead by twenty-nine points after an Isiaah Jackson hook shot. Just over a minute of game action later, Bennedict Mathurin splashed a three to put Indiana on top by THIRTY points with 8:34 left in the game. Rick Carlisle elected to pull his starters with 5:48 left after a Mathurin dunk with the game being out of hand. The reserves would extend the lead to a game high 33 points when Taelon Peter splashed a three-pointer. That wound up being the final score of the game. Indiana snaps its three-game losing streak with a 119-86 victory over Washington.

5. Top Performers

Pascal Siakam (24p, 11r, 2s), Bennedict Mathurin (20p, 4a), T.J. McConnell (14p, 8a, 4r), Jay Huff (12p, 6r, 4b), Jarace Walker (10p, 7r), and Isaiah Jackson (10p). For Washington, Alex Sarr (24p, 8r, 2b, 2s), Khris Middleton (12p, 6r, 4a), Bilal Coulibaly (11p, 4r), and CJ McCollum (11p, 2a, 2s). For tonight’s full box score, click here.

6. Notes

• Indiana snaps 3-game losing streak and 6-game NBA Cup losing streak
• Indiana is now 3-6 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse
• Washington’s 86 points are the fewest points scored by a Pacers opponent this season
  • First time since December 12, 2022 holding an opponent under 90 points
• Alex Sarr has scored 20+ points in 7 games this season
• Ben Sheppard’s 3 threes are the most in a game since making 3 on November 5th
• Ben Sheppard’s 5 assists tied a season high
• Bennedict Mathurin’s 4 assists tied a season high
• Bennedict Mathurin has scored 20+ points in 6 games this season
• Jay Huff has blocked 2+ shots in 5 straight games
  • 14 total games with 2+ blocks this season
  • 7 total games with 3+ blocks this season
  • 4 total games with 4+ blocks this season
• Pascal Siakam has scored 20+ points in 13 of 18 games played this season
• Pascal Siakam recorded his 5th double-double of the season
  • First one since November 5th
• T.J. McConnell has scored 10+ points in 5 consecutive games
• T.J. McConnell’s 8 assists tied a season high

7. Next Up

The Indiana Pacers will play game two of their four-game homestand tomorrow night against the Chicago Bulls who lost to the Charlotte Hornets 123-116 tonight. It will be the first of four meetings between the two teams on the season. Pat Boylan’s pregame coverage will begin at 7pm and then Mark Boyle and Eddie Gill will have play-by-play coverage at 7:30pm on 93.5/107.5 The Fan.