Pacers use balanced attack to beat Wizards in first game after Tyrese Haliburton's injury

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Pacers won their first game of at least seven in which they will be missing All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, avenging a December loss to Washington with a 112-104 win over the Wizards on Wednesday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

The Pacers have won eight of their last nine games and improved to 22-15, good for a fourth-place tie with the Knicks in the Eastern Conference standings. The Wizards fell to 6-31. After the Spurs beat the Pistons on Wednesday night, Detroit is the only team in the NBA with a worse record.

Here are four observations.

Pacers' offense starts out disjointed without All-Star, but recovers

In the semi-immediate aftermath of Tyrese Haliburton's injury on Monday night, the Pacers maintained their tempo and offensive flow with a remarkably efficient second half to beat the Celtics. After stumbling in the final minutes of the second quarter after Haliburton suffered what turned out to be a hamstring strain, they rebounded in the third quarter with 44 points -- 1.61 points per possession -- on 15 of 22 shooting en route to a 133-131 mild upset of the Celtics.

But that offensive juice didn't carry over into their first full game after Haliburton's diagnosis with a grade 1 strain, which will keep him out at least two weeks.

With a defense-oriented starting lineup with guards Andrew Nembhard and Bruce Brown, forwards Aaron Nesmith and Obi Toppin and center Myles Turner, the Pacers shot 9 of 24 in the first quarter, 1 of 6 from 3 and 4 of 4 from the line with five turnovers to post a paltry 0.83 points per possession. Fortunately for them, though, the Wizards were even worse, shooting 9 of 26 and posting 0.81 per possession and the Pacers led 23-21 after one.

The second quarter was a little better as the Pacers made 11 of 22 field goals and posted 1.19 points per possession, but it was clear early things wouldn't move as smooth without Haliburton, the NBA's leader in assists with 12.5 per game, the Pacers' leading scorer with 23.5 per game, and one of the most skilled offensive players in the NBA. They were 20 of 46 from the field in the first half, including 2 of 9 from 3-point range, for just 1.01 points per possession.

"It was just a little different without Ty being out there," Brown said. "We're just trying to get used to everyone. It's going to be like that for a little minute."

In the third quarter, however, the Pacers looked much-more like the Haliburton-less version of themselves that beat the Heat and Celtics and less like the version that lost to Boston in November and Minnesota in December. They started the third on a 7-0 run and then a 16-6 run, outscoring the Wizards 35-25 in the third and posting 1.35 points per possession. They were 13 of 28 from the field and 5 of 13 from 3, but they grabbed five offensive rebounds and scored 10 second-chance points to improve their efficiency. In the fourth they were just 8 of 18 from the floor and scored 23 points and posted 1.00 points per possession, but that was enough for them to hold on.

"Defensively, Washington is tricky," backup point guard T.J. McConnell said. "Offensively, they have a lot of firepower. It's one of those things where you gotta settle in and chip away and kinda stay at it. Especially in the third quarter, we did a good job of sitting down and defending and then getting out, sharing the ball and getting to the basket."

The Pacers had seven scorers in double figures with Turner posting 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead the charge. They finished 41 of 92 from the field (44.6%) and 8 of 25 from 3-point range for 1.09 points per possession.

Brown and Bennedict Mathurin had 16 points each. Toppin had 15 on 6 of 10 shooting. McConnell had 14, backup center Isaiah Jackson had 12 on 4 of 4 shooting and Nesmith had 10.

"If anything, it was a balanced night," Turner said. "You look down and it's 15, 18, 16, 16, 14, 12, that's how it's supposed to be. When one of your guys down, the rest of the team has to step up. I think we did a phenomenal job of doing that tonight. You have to do it by committee. That's how we got here."

Pacers news:Rick Carlisle calls Tyrese Haliburton's hamstring diagnosis 'best possible news'

Pacers' point guards keep the ball moving

With Haliburton out, the Pacers had no reason to worry that they wouldn't have a viable point guard. Backups Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell each have considerable experience playing behind Haliburton and playing in his stead at this point, and Bruce Brown also has plenty of experience as a primary and secondary ball-handler.

On Wednesday, all three performed at least close to their standards. None of the three had the sort of scoring outburst that Haliburton executes regularly, but they maintained the Pacers' frenetic pace and kept the ball moving.

Nembhard struggled to make shots, knocking down just 1 of 8 attempts for two points, but he finished with five assists. McConnell continued his exceptional floor marshalling with 14 points on 7 of 10 shooting, eight assists against zero turnovers and two steals. Brown, healing from a knee bruise he'd been dealing with all season, created shots for himself and others, finishing with 16 points and six assists, and he was also key on the glass chasing down loose balls and grabbing nine rebounds. With those three dictating tempo, the Pacers finished with 31 assists on 41 baskets.

"I thought Drew did a solid job of this game," Carlisle said. "He's still getting his legs under him. I expect once we get into this trip to settle in and really get his rhythm. T.J. has been very consistent for the last month, actually more than that. He's been really great all year. And Bruce is healthy and you can tell. He's moving differently, he's got more bounce, he's got more energy, his vibe on the court is different now that he's not experiencing discomfort, and so it's a game-changer."

Pacers carried by defense

The Pacers were obviously fortunate to play their first game of what will be at least seven games without Haliburton against a Wizards team with the third-worst record in the NBA. Washington ranks 14th in the NBA in scoring, but that comes in large part because they play at at the second-fastest pace in the league behind the Pacers. The Wizards are 25th in offensive rating.

Still, the Wizards have some explosive if inefficient scorers in Jordan Poole, Kyle Kuzma and others, so it was notable that from the beginning, the Pacers did a good job at keeping them reasonably quiet. Poole scored 28 points on 11 of 21 shooting, but Kuzma had just 11 on 4 of 15 shooting and the Wizards shot 43.2% from the field and finished with just 1.03 points per possession. The Wizards' 104 points tied the season-low for a Pacers opponent. The Bulls, who scored 104 against the Pacers on Dec. 28, are the only Pacers opponent to post a lower per-possession figure at 1.02.

"I think we're being more physical and communicating," Brown said. "... We're just using our voice, being in the right spots, really knowing our personnel and knowing our game plan."

It was a drastic improvement from Dec. 15 when the Pacers lost 137-123 when the Wizards shot 56.5% from the field and 13 of 27 from 3 and scored 68 points in the paint. They posted 1.20 points per possession in that game.

"I thought the last time we played them in Washington they were just comfortable getting whatever they wanted," McConnell said. "They didn't feel us at all, no physicality, no pressure on the ball, not fighting through screens. That's why we lost like we did. Credit to the coaches, we made a concerted effort to fix that and we have to continue to do that."

Jordan Nwora takes advantage of opportunity

With an extended rotation of 11 players who have played significant minutes this season, the Pacers were hoping the Haliburton injury wouldn't force them to play anyone who hadn't appeared in at least 24 games or averaged at least 13 minutes.

Center/forward Jalen Smith was a late scratch with a sore lower back, however, and the Pacers had to do some more shuffling. Forward Obi Toppin moved into the starting lineup at the 4 and Jordan Nowra got his first significant minutes in weeks.

Nwora had appeared in just 14 games all season and had played more than 10 minutes just five times all season. He played more than 1 minute, 20 seconds just once in the last 10 games and he's appeared in just one game all season that wasn't either a double-digit win or double-digit loss. However, the former Louisville All-American who averaged 13.0 points per game for the Pacers last season after he was acquired in February proved again that he can at least score the ball.

Nwora scored nine points on 4 of 7 shooting, causing highlights with a tomahawk dunk as well as a 3-pointer. It was his second highest scoring figure of the season after his 19 points in a blowout loss against the Magic on Nov. 19.

"I thought Jordan Nwora showed tonight what being a professional in the NBA is," Carlisle said. "He's had a frustrating year in terms of opportunity, but he has stayed the course, he comes in and works on off days, he was in playing pickup yesterday with the interns and some of our low-minute guys. Jalen was unavailable right before the game. Got word to Jordan that you're likely going to be in the rotation tonight. He defended. Offensively he was really good. The dunk was a huge play in the game for momentum in the third quarter and he made a big 3. I was really happy for him. Guys have a choice when things aren't going well. They can put their head down and blame the world or they can look in the mirror and stay ready and stay tuned up and keep an edge and he's done that."

Indiana 112, Washington 104

WASHINGTON (104)

Avdija 4-10 6-7 15, Kuzma 4-15 3-3 11, Gafford 4-6 4-6 12, Jones 5-12 0-0 11, Poole 11-21 4-6 28, Kispert 6-11 0-0 15, Muscala 2-4 0-0 4, Coulibaly 1-5 3-4 5, Wright 1-4 1-4 3. Totals 38-88 21-30 104.

INDIANA (112)

Nesmith 3-9 2-2 10, Toppin 6-10 0-0 15, Turner 7-15 3-3 18, B.Brown 5-11 5-5 16, Nembhard 1-8 0-0 2, Jackson 4-4 4-6 12, Nwora 4-7 0-0 9, Mathurin 4-13 8-8 16, Hield 0-5 0-0 0, McConnell 7-10 0-0 14. Totals 41-92 22-24 112.

3-Point Goals—Washington 7-31 (Kispert 3-8, Poole 2-7, Avdija 1-3, Jones 1-5, Coulibaly 0-1, Wright 0-1, Muscala 0-2, Kuzma 0-4), Indiana 8-25 (Toppin 3-6, Nesmith 2-5, B.Brown 1-2, Nwora 1-2, Turner 1-5, Mathurin 0-1, Nembhard 0-1, Hield 0-3). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Washington 45 (Kuzma 10), Indiana 54 (Turner 13). Assists_Washington 24 (Poole 7), Indiana 31 (McConnell 8). Total Fouls_Washington 23, Indiana 22. A_15,721 (20,000)