WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tyrese Haliburton scored 29 points and made seven 3-pointers to lead the Pacers to a 162-109 win over the Wizards on Thursday night at Capital One Arena as Indiana set NBA franchise records in both points and 3-pointers with 27. The previous points record was 157 and the previous 3-pointers record was 23.
The Pacers improved to 43-30 and have won eight of their past 10 games, holding fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The Wizards fell to 16-57 and have the worst record in the East.
Haliburton led nine scorers in double figures, also tying a team record. Center Myles Turner scored 17 points. Forward Jarace Walker had 16 points. Forward Obi Toppin had 15 on 7-of-9 shooting. Center Thomas Bryant had 12 points and seven rebounds. Point guard T.J. McConnell had 10 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Tyrese Haliburton found his range again
After a blistering start to the post-All-Star-break period, Haliburton saw his outside shooting cool as he missed three games for a left hip flexor injury and then lower back soreness.
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He’s still been sensational as an offensive creator and he entered Thursday’s game on a streak of 12 straight points-assists double doubles, posting 160 assists against just 14 turnovers since the break. But after making 30-of-55 3s in the first 10 games after the break (54.5%) he entered Thursday’s action 11-of-41 (26.8%) from three in his past six games. He was still averaging 18.0 points and 12.7 assists in those games, but was a little frustrated in the 3-ball.
Thursday, though, he hit his first 3-pointer and all seemed right with the world after that. In the first half, he scored 19 points on on 6-of-9 shooting including 5-of-8 from 3-point range. He ended up 9-of-15 from the floor and 7-of-10 from 3, but didn’t have to play at all in the fourth quarter and only recorded six assists, ending his double-doubles streak.
Everyone else went off from 3 too
Haliburton led the way, but the Pacers got incredible outside shooting from just about everyone else on the roster as well. Turner hit four 3s. Forward Walker hit four. Forward Aaron Nesmith hit three. Bryant knocked down two off the bench.
They all combined to make 27-of-47 3-pointers, hitting 22 through three quarters to put themselves within one of the record before Johnny Furphy hit the record breaker in the fourth quarter
The outside shooting led to one of the most efficient scoring nights of the year as the Pacers shot 59-of-92 from the floor (64.1%) and posted 1.58 points per possession. They were still at 1.67 points per possession through three quarters before putting in the deep bench, but they still scored 37 points in the fourth period.
Jarace Walker builds off Wednesday’s performance
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle told Walker heading into Wednesday’s game against the Lakers he could see a lot of time in this back-to-back and he did. He had some excellent moments and some tough ones in Wednesday’s loss to the Lakers with five key points in the fourth quarter and a key stop in the game’s final minute but also a missed opportunity for a box out on LeBron James in what became a game-winning tip-in.
On Thursday night, Walker seemed to build off the high points and the low points. He scored 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. He also had five rebounds, five assists and a block and posted a +31 plus-minus in 24 minutes and 40 seconds on the floor.
