Game Rewind: Pacers 105, Jazz 132

Monday, Jan. 15 at 9:00 PM ET at Delta Center

On the second leg of a back-to-back out West, a short-handed Indiana Pacers squad had a season-worst shooting performance against one of the hottest teams in the NBA.

The Pacers (23-17) shot a season-low 40.0 percent from the field and never led in a 132-105 loss to the Utah Jazz (22-20) at Delta Center on Monday.

The Jazz have now won six games in a row, nine of their last 10, and are 15-5 at home. Alternatively, the Pacers have lost two straight and are 1-6 on the second legs of back-to-backs this season.

Indiana was missing a trio of starters on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as Tyrese Haliburton (left hamstring strain), Bruce Brown (right knee bone bruise) and Aaron Nesmith (bilateral shin soreness) all sat out with injuries. Utah had no players on their pregame injury report.

The Pacers trailed by 14 at halftime and 26 at the end of the third quarter before the Jazz put the game away in the final frame.

Seven-foot power forward Lauri Markkannen, the reigning Western Conference Player of the Week, scored 32 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Jazz and guard Collin Sexton recorded 30 points.

Five players scored in double figures for the Pacers, led by 14 points apiece by Buddy Hield and Andrew Nembhard and 12 points each from Myles Turner and Jalen Smith.

Utah shot 55.6 percent in the game and outscored Indiana 60-46 in the paint. The Jazz made 11 total 3-pointers to the Pacers’ nine treys.

The Jazz did a lot of damage from the free throw line, making 31 of 35 from the charity stripe. Indiana made 20 of 25 free throws.

Utah outshot Indiana 53.3 to 40 percent in the opening 24 minutes to build a 64-50 halftime lead. Sexton had 17 points and Markkanen scored 15 in the first half, while Hield scored all 14 of his points in the opening 24 minutes for Indiana.

The Jazz shot 59.4 percent as a team while limiting the Pacers to 44 percent in the first quarter to build a 33-26 lead. Markkanen scored 11 points in the opening frame, while Hield scored 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting (3-for-3 3-point) for the Blue & Gold.

Utah could hardly miss to start, making eight of their first 10 shots – which included Markkanen making all four of his shot attempts during the stretch – to lead 18-11 five minutes into the game.

The Blue & Gold struggled to slow down the Jazz for the remainder of the quarter, but Hield drilled a trio of 3-pointers and made a technical free throw to cut it to 23-20 with 5:23 on the clock. Utah then used a mini 6-2 run to stay ahead while their reserves were on the floor.

Utah continued shooting well to start the second quarter, but Turner scored 10 points in the first eight and a half minutes of the period to keep it close at 51-45.

In the final 3:07 of the half, the Jazz strung together a 13-5 run behind four different scorers to take a 14-point lead into the break.

“I thought we got off to a poor start. We did not have the defensive mindset that we needed to have at the beginning of the game,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. “Their guards bullied us in the paint and scored repeatedly. We did a lot of substituting, but they just got going and it was hard to stop their entire team.”

Markkanen recorded 17 points in the third quarter to create some major distance between the teams.

The Jazz extended their lead to 74-53 thanks to a 10-3 run – which featured 3-pointers by Sexton and Simone Fontecchio – in the first 2:15 of the third.

After going back-and-forth for the next few minutes, the Jazz used a 18-8 run in the final 4:07 of the third quarter, where Markkanen scored 12 points, to take a 105-79 lead going into the last 12 minutes.

Down 26 points after three, Indiana went deep into its bench to start the fourth quarter.

The young Pacers group on the floor opened the fourth quarter on a 13-4 run, thanks to five points by rookie Jarace Walker and four points from rookie Oscar Tshiebwe, but the Blue & Gold never got closer than 17 points in the final frame.

The Pacers will next play at Sacramento on Thursday before going to Portland on Friday and finishing their six-game road trip in Phoenix on Sunday.

Pacers rookie Jarace Walker matched career bests in points (eight) and rebounds (four) while setting new personal bests for assists (four), steals (four) and blocks (two).

Lauri Markkanen has scored 22+ points in six straight games for the Jazz and in seven of his last eight.

The Pacers pulled down a season-high 18 offensive rebounds as a team.

Utah won the rebounding battle 46-43.

Thirteen of 14 players that took the floor for the Pacers recorded a point.

Indiana finished with 13 turnovers and Utah had 14.

“Starting games, I don’t care if it’s back-to-back, altitude, or any of that stuff. We just have to have the right mindset, the right competitive attitude. We didn't have it at the beginning of the game and it carried through.” – Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle on the loss

“Our future is very bright. I like all these guys. Jarace (Walker) has some special abilities, and he showed a lot of those tonight – his vision and playmaking. He has been shooting the ball well in the G League. … I thought he did a good job.” – Carlisle on Walker

“Anytime I can get my teammates involved it will always get me going. It’s one of my favorite things -- to share the ball and move the ball … watch my teammates eat.” – Jarace Walker on his performance

“I have just been getting more and more confident. I’ve been spending more time in the gym as well – especially on the road and on off-days.” – Walker on his shooting

“They play really good basketball. They move a lot, play through Markkanen a lot. Collin got loose a little bit. You just gotta figure out a way (to stop) that.” – Buddy Hield on the Jazz

“We didn’t have fatigue. We’re basketball players -- it’s what we do. We want to play every day. We just need to go out and execute.” – Hield on the back-to-back

The Pacers shot 38-for-95 (40.0 percent) from the floor, which is their worst shooting percentage for a single game this season. The previous low was 40.9 percent against the Chicago Bulls on Oct. 30.

The Pacers travel to Sacramento to take on Domantas Sabonis and the Kings on Thursday, Jan. 18 at 10:00 PM ET.

After a six-game road trip, the Pacers will return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse to host Nikola Jokic and the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets >>