The Indiana Pacers certainly didn’t need to go off on Thursday night, considering both the state of the Washington Wizards and the fact that they entered the final period with a more than 30-point lead.
But the Pacers left Capital One Arena with a blowout win and several new franchise records anyway.
The Pacers cruised to a 162-109 win over the Wizards on Thursday in what was a truly dominant outing. Their 162 points were the most scored by any team in the league so far this season, and set a new NBA franchise record for the most points scored in a single game. They made 27 3-pointers in the win, too, which was also a new team record.
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The Pacers even quit at the end, too. They took three straight shot-clock violations in the final two minutes simply to end the game quicker.
Indiana led the entire way in the win, and put up 45 points in the first quarter to get the night started. They hit 83 points as a team by halftime, and then took a 36-point lead into the final period. The Wizards simply couldn’t keep up offensively, even with the Pacers being on the second night of a back-to-back that ended with a LeBron James buzzer-beater on Wednesday. It was a blowout in every sense of the word.
The Pacers had nine different players hit double figures in the win, led by Tyrese Haliburton’s 29 points. He hit seven of their 27 3-pointers, too. T.J. McConnell nearly had a triple-double off the bench with his 10 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. They assisted on 48 of their 59 made field goals, which is a season-high, and shot nearly 57.5% from behind the arc.
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Alex Sarr led Washington with 22 points and seven rebounds, and Jordan Poole added 18 points. The Wizards were out-rebounded by 19 points and made just 11 3-pointers as a group. The loss dropped them to 16-57 on the season, which is the worst in the Eastern Conference and has them in-line with the Utah Jazz for the worst record in the league.
The Pacers, on the other hand, sit at 43-30 on the year with nine games left in the regular season — which includes Saturday’s matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder and a pair of games against the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers. The Pacers can realistically make a play for the No. 3 seed in the playoffs with a strong finish.
While an offensive night like Thursday’s won’t be a regular thing — that’d be impossible for anybody keep up with — the Pacers offense is clearly clicking at the perfect time.