Game Rewind: Pacers 117, Pelicans 124

The end of game struggles continued for the Pacers (31-22), as they fell to the visiting New Orleans Pelicans (22-31), 124-117, Saturday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. It is the fifth straight loss for the Blue & Gold.

Despite the absence of its two leading scorers, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, New Orleans got 31 points on 10-of-22 shooting from Jrue Holiday. The eldest brother of the Holiday bunch tallied 11 of the Pelican's final 13 points in the last 1:47 of the contest. Conversely, the Pacers went cold, missing three consecutive attempts in a 1:03 span with less than two minutes to go.

With 45.5 seconds remaining, Holiday iced the game, nailing a wide open three from the left elbow to put New Orleans up, 118-110.

Jeremy Lamb ended the night with a team-high 26 points, five boards, and four assists. In a somber locker room, he summarized the end of the game succinctly.

"They made shots. We didn't. They got stops. We didn't."

In his first game since missing three due to a concussion, T.J. Warren finished with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Malcolm Brodgon added 17, eight boards, and six dishes, while Domantas Sabonis added 16 and eight rebounds.

Complimenting Holiday for New Orleans tonight was 13-year veteran J.J. Redick. The consisten sharpshooter tallied 23 points, including 19 in the first half that helped the Pelicans grab a 60-55 halftime lead.

Lamb was the go-to guy for the Blue & Gold on the offensive end beginning early in the first. He scored seven of the Pacers first 11 points, including a deep triple with the shot-clock sounding, to knot things at 11 apiece with 7:05 to play in the first quarter.

Later in the period, after an emphatic right-handed slam from Jaxson Hayes threatened to pull the momentum away from Indiana, Lamb once again brought the Blue & Gold back into it. Five straight points from the former UConn star cut Indiana's deficit to 21-20 with 3:49 to go.

With 1:18 showing and Indiana trailing by one, Warren gave the Pacers their first lead of the ball game, 24-23, on a crafty reverse layup through a foul call.

However, the Pelicans would soon retake the lead, and exit the quarter with a 31-26 lead behind back-to-back trips to the charity stripe with less than 30 seconds remaining.

Early in the second, it was Doug McDermott who sparked the Pacers offense. The sharpshooter scored the first seven Pacer points in the frame, including a wide-open triple from the left wing, to cut the Pacers' lead to 35-33 with 10:21 left to play in the first half.

But for the next few minutes, the Blue & Gold struggled from the floor. A 3:35 scoreless streak allowed the visitors to accrue a 45-33 lead before a pair of Justin Holiday free throws trimmed the lead back to 10 with 6:46 to play. During the drought, Redick tallied six of New Orleans' 10 points.

But the Pacers found a way to claw back to within striking distance behind a team effort. Warren, Myles Turner, Sabonis, and Brogdon all scored buckets as part of an 8-2 spree that cut Indiana's deficit to 52-48 with 2:31 to play before Pelicans' head coach Alvin Gentry halted play with a timeout.

After five quick points from Redick put Indiana back into a 57-50 hole, Lamb's three from the left wing cut the deficit down to 57-53 with 1:17 to go. But a Lonzo Ball triple helped pushed New Orleans' lead to five before time expired.

To start the third, a string of five unanswered points combined with a gritty defensive effort allowed the Pacers to tie things at 60 apiece on a Warren jumper with 8:35 left in the period. The stifling defense held New Orleans scoreless until the 8:21 mark of the frame, including a possession in which New Orleans snagged three consecutive offensive rebounds.

For the next few minutes, the teams battled in a close game. Sabonis was involved in three straight Pacers possessions, scoring five points and assisting on a Warren layup with a nifty one-handed overhead pass to bring Indiana back to within one, 70-69. A pair of Brogdon free throws with 5:17 remaining then gave the Blue & Gold a 71-70 lead.

Later, it was Brogdon again who helped the Pacers keep up. After Jrue Holiday's trey from the right wing gave the Pelicans a 78-75 lead, Brogdon swiftly responded with a three of his own to tie it up.

Then, with 2:19 to play, Brogdon once against found a response to a Pelicans' three. Favoring an isolated matchup against Frank Jackson, Brogdon drove left and finished a three-point play to knot things at 81 apiece.

With time winding down, the Pacers kept things tied, 85-85, on a pair of Warren free throws. But, with 0.9 seconds left in the frame, Holiday completed a three-point play from the right elbow of the paint to give New Orleans the slim lead entering the final frame.

Five unanswered Pacers points, including a corner three from Justin Holiday, quickly grabbed a 90-88 lead early in the fourth quarter. But Redick's first points of the second half, a floating jumper in the paint, quickly put New Orleans ahead 92-90 with 9:58 remaining.

Indiana appeared to gain some headway in the tight battle after scoring seven straight to jump ahead 103-99 on a Lamb tip-in with 5:57 remaining.

However, the Pelicans responded quickly. Holiday and former Purdue guard E'Twaun Moore pushed New Orleans ahead by one, 104-103 with 4:51 to go.

Then it was Indiana's turn. A clutch three from Turner followed by a Lamb jumper grabbed a 108-106 lead with 3:26 remaining.

Though, the familiar faces of the night put the Pelicans in front again. Redick knotted things up on the next Pelicans possession with a driving finger-roll layup. Holiday then sandwiched a Sabonis hook shot with five points, including a crafty fadeaway jumper to earn a 113-110 lead with 1:47 to go.

As Indiana struggled to find the net late, Holiday iced the game by drilling a wide-open three from the left elbow with 45.5 seconds to go, putting New Orleans up 118-110.

With Indiana forced to foul, he added four free throws as an exclamation mark to his near-perfect finish. It was yet another disheartening ending for Indiana.

The Blue & Gold hope to end their skid against the Brooklyn Nets on Monday, Feb. 10 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Indiana was outrebounded for the third time in five games, 53-37. They were held to a season-low two offensive rebounds.

New Orleans shot just 42 percent through the first three quarters, but finished the game shooting 12-for-19 (63 percent) and 9-for-10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarters.

For the second consecutive game, the Pacers surrendered 60 or more points in the first half. They've failed to hold an opponent to fewer than 112 points in four straight games

"We're not closing. We're not getting it done on either end of the floor. We had some possessions where you go up by two, you've got to get stops. We did get stops and we didn't score, and that's something that we've done this year. But in these last five games, we aren't closing out games and making the plays to win, these games whether it's getting a stop or making a basket." – Pacers head coach Nate McMillan on tonight's performance

'We just have to find a way to get a win. We're in a fog right now. That happens throughout the season, it just sucks." – Jeremy Lamb on if there's any more mental fatigue and how they can get through with two games before the break

'It starts with us. We have to come out and change it. We've had a lot of defensive breakdowns. We've got to correct them and just move on. You can't get those games back, so we've got to continue to look forward to the next one." – T.J. Warren on how you turn around this losing streak

The Blue & Gold surrendered 124 points on 44-of-95 (46.3 percent) shooting, including 15 threes. The 124 points are tied for the second-most points given up by the Pacers this season.

The Pacers host the Brooklyn Nets on Monday, Feb. 10 at 7:00 PM ET at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Find Tickets »

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