Our Clients:

Field Level Media - Professional sports content solutions | FLM

Jan 29, 2025 10:03 pm

Red-hot first half carries Pacers past Pistons

Pacers, Pistons

Pascal Siakam had a season high 37 points, Tyrese Haliburton added 30 and the host Indiana Pacers fought off a strong challenge to defeat the Detroit Pistons 133-119 Wednesday night in Indianapolis.

The game saw a total of six technical fouls called, four on Detroit, and Pistons backup center Isaiah Stewart ejected in the second quarter after a flagrant foul on Pacers forward Thomas Bryant.

Indiana never trailed but couldn’t put the Pistons away until a 14-7 spurt that included a banked-in three by Siakam and a three by Haliburton in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 127-112 with two minutes left.

Indiana is an NBA-best 10-2 since the start of 2025 and all 10 wins have been by double figures.

Detroit was led by Cade Cunningham’s 32 points. Malik Beasley added 20 in the losing effort.

Myles Turner had 24 for the Pacers.

The Pacers scored a season-high 74 points in the first half, with both Haliburton (22 points) and Siakam (21) shooting lights out. Indiana shot 80 percent in the first quarter.

Play began to get physical quickly between the Central Division rivals. Stewart had words with James Johnson sitting on the Pacers bench before a media timeout with 3:32 left in the first and both teams creeped on to the court. Stewart and Johnson — who did not even suit up for the game — were both hit with technical fouls.

Early in the second quarter, Stewart checked Bryant after a missed shot, squaring his body to ostensibly box him out and knocking him to the ground. Bryant went flying and officials quickly moved in to direct Stewart to his team’s bench. After viewing the play on replay, Stewart was assessed a Flagrant-2 foul for a play that didn’t include a basketball move and was ejected.

The altercations overshadowed an extremely entertaining first half. Indiana led by as many as 20 and Haliburton brought the crowd to its feet by throwing the ball off the backboard from 15 feet away and collecting it and scoring on a wild play in the first quarter. But Detroit answered every Indiana run with one of their own, getting five 3s from Beasley off the bench in the first half to keep it a 10-point game at the break.

Indiana played without starters Bennedict Mathurin (illness) and Andrew Nembhard (back). The Pacers won the season series over the Pistons 3-1.

–Field Level Media

You may also like

PJ Haggerty
Feb 15, 2025 12:46 am

No. 14 Memphis aims to build on AAC lead vs. Wichita State

Memphis coach Penny Hardaway reached a milestone Thursday night — his 150th career victory. “What a great 6 1/2 years for me, as far as all the talent that I’ve…

Stephon Castle,
Feb 14, 2025 11:39 pm

Stephon Castle, Team C prevail in NBA Rising Stars event

San Antonio Spurs rookie Stephon Castle produced 12 points, three rebounds and two assists while leading Team C to a 25-14 win over Team G League in the championship game…

Roddy Gayle
Feb 14, 2025 10:50 pm

Ohio State eyes role as disrupter vs. No. 20 Michigan

Even casual fans know that records don’t matter when Ohio State and Michigan play, in any sport. Mere months ago, the unranked Michigan football team, a three-touchdown underdog, stunned the…

More Basketball News

PJ Haggerty
Feb 15, 2025 12:46 am

No. 14 Memphis aims to build on AAC lead vs. Wichita State

Memphis coach Penny Hardaway reached a milestone Thursday night — his 150th career victory. “What a great 6 1/2 years for me, as far as all the talent that I’ve…

Stephon Castle,
Feb 14, 2025 11:39 pm

Stephon Castle, Team C prevail in NBA Rising Stars event

Roddy Gayle
Feb 14, 2025 10:50 pm

Ohio State eyes role as disrupter vs. No. 20 Michigan

UCLA, Indiana
Feb 14, 2025 10:46 pm

UCLA staves off Indiana’s comeback attempt

Ryan Kalkbrenner
Feb 14, 2025 10:35 pm

No. 9 St. John’s, No. 24 Creighton vie for Big East lead

Read all
fb-post
advertisment
title-icon

Upcoming events

See all odds