Tied at 77, then a 14-0 avalanche: Pacers put away Wizards for first home win
Indiana broke open a dead-even game with 14 unanswered points to start the fourth quarter, riding Pascal Siakam and Ivica Zubac to a 114-101 win over Washington.
The Pacers' first home win of the season took 12 tries to arrive, and for three quarters on Wednesday night it looked like it might wait a little longer. Tied at 77 with the Washington Wizards entering the fourth at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indiana scored 14 unanswered points in the first 2:59 of the quarter and pulled away to a 114-101 win, taking the frame 37-24.
The big men carried it
Pascal Siakam finished with a game-high 28 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, going a perfect 12-for-12 from the free-throw line. Ivica Zubac added 20 points and 12 rebounds — his first 20-point game as a Pacer — and Andrew Nembhard posted 17 points and 10 assists for his second straight double-double, per the Pacers' game rewind. Nembhard's assist total nearly matched the Wizards' entire team: Indiana won the assist battle 29-12, a gap that tells the story of how each offense functioned late. Kelly Oubre Jr. chipped in 14 points and four steals.
Washington's familiar fade
The Wizards had their chances. Rookie Tre Johnson scored 13 first-half points off the bench to stake Washington to a 37-31 lead, and an 18-8 spurt to close the third — with Anthony Davis (20 points, 10 rebounds) leading a 7-0 run — erased a 10-point Indiana edge. But Kyshawn George's 25-point, nine-rebound night came with six turnovers, and Washington managed just 12 assists as the offense stalled when it mattered, according to Yahoo Sports. Second-quarter live-ball giveaways had already handed Indiana a 55-50 halftime lead.
What it means
Both teams now sit at 4-8, but the arrows point in different directions. Indiana, still playing without Tyrese Haliburton — coach Rick Carlisle is expected to give an update on his progress in roughly ten days, per Sports Illustrated — has found a workable interior identity around Nembhard and Zubac. Washington, which heads straight into the second night of a back-to-back against Detroit, keeps producing individual numbers from its young core without converting them into wins.