The Indiana Pacers are off to a white-hot start to 2025.
Behind six double-digit scorers and a masterful performance by All-NBA point guard Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers (17-18) beat the Miami Heat (17-15), 128-115, on Thursday at Kaseya Center.
There was only one tie and one lead change in the game, as the Pacers led by 16 points at halftime and 24 points after three quarters before holding on for their first victory of the new year.
Haliburton orchestrated the win from start to finish, registering 33 points on six made 3-pointers, a season-high 15 assists and zero turnovers, while Pascal Siakam had 18 points and 11 rebounds and Myles Turner scored 21 points. Bennedict Mathurin, Obi Toppin, and Jarace Walker each scored 12 points for the Blue & Gold.
Indiana shot 53.1 percent as a team, making 17 total 3-pointers, while dishing out 35 assists on 51 made baskets. The Pacers tied a season-low for turnovers in a game with six.
Miami, playing on the second leg of a back-to-back, shot a strong 57.3 percent overall but made 11 threes while turning the ball over 14 times.
Former Indiana University standout Kel’el Ware led the Heat with 25 points off the bench, center Bam Adebayo recorded 20 points and eight rebounds and Tyler Herro had 17 points. Six-time NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler recorded nine points and four assists in 27 minutes.
After losing eight straight road games earlier in the season, the Pacers are 7-1 over their last eight away from Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Pacers played fast and free in the first half, making 58 percent of their shots while dishing out 21 assists on 27 made baskets to lead 66-50. Miami shot 51.4 percent in the first half but had seven turnovers.
Haliburton commanded the floor from the jump, registering 16 points, nine assists and two steals across 18 minutes in the first half. Herro and Adebayo each had 12 points for the Heat at intermission.
Indiana used two big runs to lead 38-25 by the end of the first quarter, with Haliburton scoring 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting (4-for-7 from 3-point range) and recording six assists in the opening frame.
After Butler opened the game’s scoring, the Pacers strung together a 12-0 run – where Siakam made two straight baskets and Haliburton drained back-to-back 3-pointers – to lead 12-2.
While the Heat was able to get some offense going midway through the period, a 15-4 run by the Blue & Gold, where Haliburton scored seven points and Ben Sheppard and Toppin each made threes, extended the Pacers’ lead to 36-19 with 1:24 on the clock.
Miami outscored Indiana 6-2 in the final 1:01 for the opening frame, but T.J. McConnell made a floater from 10 feet at the buzzer to keep the Pacers’ momentum.
The teams largely traded baskets over the course of the first six minutes of the second quarter, with the Blue & Gold bench holding the lead steady.
An 8-2 Pacers run, capped by an alley-oop from Haliburton to Siakam, forced a Miami timeout with 4:12 left in the half before the Pacers held onto a 16-point lead going into the break.
The Pacers shot 66.7 percent in the third quarter, including 7-for-12 from 3-point range, to outscore the Heat 41-33 in the frame.
Haliburton scored 12 points and added six assists to his total in the third quarter and Turner was a perfect 4-for-4 shooting for 11 points.
After a back-and-forth start to the third quarter, a 13-5 scoring spree by the Pacers, where Turner scored nine points with two 3-pointers and an and-one, extended the visitors’ advantage to 88-67 just past the period’s midway point.
The Pacers continued to pour it on from there. A 14-6 run from 4:04 to 1:23, where Haliburton scored five points and McConnell added four, put the visitors in front 100-77.
Heading into the fourth quarter, the Pacers led 107-83.
While Miami mustered a 22-7 scoring stretch in the fourth quarter, thanks to 12 points by Ware during the spree, the Heat never got the deficit down to single digits.
Walker made a pair of 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter before the Heat went on a 11-1 run, thanks to a pair of threes by Ware, to make it 114-99 with 7:54 left in the game.
Indiana’s starting unit came back in the game with 7:14 to play, and buckets by Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard and Siakam gave the Pacers a little more breathing room at 121-105 with 4:24 on the clock.
The Pacers held on from there, using a 9-2 surge over the next two minutes to put the game away.
Indiana returns home Saturday to host the Phoenix Suns before playing the Brooklyn Nets on Monday in New York.
Inside the Numbers
Tyrese Haliburton has recorded at least 30 points and 10 assists four times this season.
Pacers forward Jarace Walker has scored in double figures in five straight games off the bench.
Both teams finished with 39 rebounds, but the Pacers won the offensive boards, 13-5.
The 41 points in the third quarter are a season-high for the Pacers in that period.
At the free throw line, the Heat went 18-for-21 and the Pacers finished 9-for-16.
The Pacers took 96 shots and the Heat put up 75 in the game.
Pascal Siakam has six double-doubles this season and Haliburton is up to 13.
You Can Quote Me on That
“(Tyrese Haliburton) was great. … He’s such a unique player. He came to us really as a point guard, and he’s become one of the elite scoring point guards. But I still think, and he and I have talked about this, there’s a real place for the balance, too. He’s got weapons. Not only did he score tonight, but he made sure other guys were touching it, which was awesome.” – Pacers head coach in Rick Carlisle on Haliburton’s performance
“We can’t pat ourselves on the back too much about anything right now. We’ve got to really work at our consistency. We had Miami in a tough spot tonight. They played last night, and they played some of their main guys into the high 30s minutes-wise. We still let them score 115 points. I thought, if we really had stayed with it and concentrated, we could have kept them at a lower number. And that’s going to be part of the growth of this team – developing that edge.” – Carlisle on the win
“(Jarace Walker is) doing some good things offensively, for sure, and his shot-making tonight was timely. … He’s got really a unique gift with his long arms and his hands. When he works to stay in position, he can still make plays on the ball. That’s special. He’s developing a way to do that within the system, without taking gambles that are all-or-nothing … he’s making progress.” – Carlisle on Walker
“Just being aggressive, getting downhill. It’s been an up and down season for me scoring the ball, but I know if I get consistent paint touches good things happen for us offensively. … Played free today and had a good game. I thought I controlled the game well tonight.” — Haliburton on his hot shooting early on
“We were just moving the ball well. Guys were making shots. … I thought offensively our concepts were really good. I thought we did a good job of staying to our principles” — Haliburton on the team’s 35 assists
“You can’t get complacent, you can’t get comfortable.” — Myles Turner on the win and looking ahead to Phoenix
Stat of the Night
After Thursday’s performance, Tyrese Haliburton became the first player in the NBA with at least 30 points, 15 assists and zero turnovers in multiple games since 1977-78. Haliburton also recorded 33 points, 15 assists and zero turnovers on Nov. 14, 2023, against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Noteworthy
Indiana leads their season series with Miami 2-1. The teams will meet one last time at Kaseya Center on Feb. 28.
The Heat were playing on the second leg of a back-to-back on Thursday. They are 4-3 in games without rest this season.
The Pacers acquired Thomas Bryant from the Heat on Dec. 15 for future draft picks.
Miami rookie Kel’el Ware played at Indiana University during the 2023-2024 season. The Heat drafted Ware in June with the 15th overall pick.
Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton and Miami’s Bam Adebayo won gold medals together on Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics.