Game Rewind: Pacers 119, Spurs 108

Over the last few games, the Pacers' offense has clicked. However, the defensive side has had its struggles. The Blue & Gold broke that trend against the San Antonio Spurs Saturday night.

For the first time since Feb. 27, Indiana held its opponent to fewer than 110 points. When the Spurs dropped 38 points in the second, Indiana rallied and held the hosts to 18 points in the third quarter. That allowed the Blue & Gold to pull away and earn a 119-108 victory inside AT&T Center.

"We really needed this win, to be honest," Isaiah Jackson (15 points, five rebounds) said. "Last game was a close game that we should have gotten. We just came out with the mindset that we were going to try to win."

Jackson and five other Pacers (23-45) finished in double figures. Tyrese Haliburton finished with a double-double, recording 19 points and 10 assists. Duane Washington Jr. also added 19 points — all in the first half. He finished 7-of-9 from the field — 3-of-4 from deep. Additionally, Buddy Hield tallied 17 points, six assists, and earned a +25 rating.

The Spurs (25-41) started the game with six unanswered points. However, Indiana stormed right back. Beginning with a monstrous slam from Jackson, the squad battled back to knot the score at eight with 8:52 remaining.

Trailing 11-8, Duarte, Oshae Brissett, and Buddy Hield contributed to a 7-0 Pacers spree that earned the squad its first lead with around six minutes left. When the Spurs worked through Jock Landale to tie the score, Hield knocked in his first trey at the 5:12 mark to regain an 18-15 Indiana lead.

The bucket began a 13-2 Pacers spree that extended the margin to double digits. The run included several high-quality finishes in the paint, including a massive one-handed flush from Washington.

"The bench was definitely hyped," Washington said postgame. "I was hyped as well. It was great momentum. Those kinds of plays can definitely uplift your team and keep that energy going for the next few possessions."

Thanks to a few untimely turnovers, the Spurs trimmed the lead to single digits before the frame expired (34-26). The Blue & Gold finished 13-of-23 (56.5 percent) from the field.

Back-to-back triples from Washington quickly pushed the Pacers' lead into double digits again. When Lonnie Walker IV responded, Washington drained his third — a snipe from the left side — to give the game a 45-34 score with 9:50 left.

A 9-2 run from the hosts — five from Landale — trimmed the Pacers' lead to 47-43 with 7:51 remaining. But the Blue & Gold had an answer. The squad responded with a 9-0 spurt — four from Jackson — to regain a 58-45 lead with 5:08 to play.

Thanks to Washington, Duarte, and Brissett, Indiana increased its lead to 19 over the next 3:21. However, San Antonio capitalized on a run of sloppy play and scored 14 unanswered points to battle back to within five. Haliburton ended the spree — and the half — with a 13-foot floater with 33.3 seconds left.

The Pacers swiftly regained control in the third as they rattled off a 14-4 run in 3:20 and earned an 85-68 lead. Haliburton and Jackson combined for nine points of the spree. After play simmered, Goga Bitadze went to work on the defensive side to maintain the healthy lead. The big man clogged the paint, picking up a massive block at the 7:11 mark on Devin Vassell's layup attempt.

Over the next few minutes, the story remained the same. Indiana remained tight on the defensive end while firing in their open looks on offense. At the 4:15 mark, Keifer Sykes sank his first three – an open 26-footer from the left wing — to stretch Indiana's lead to 93-74.

Down the stretch, Bitadze held the Spurs from gaining momentum. The third-year center provided the last four Pacers points and collected his third block to bring a 97-82 lead into the fourth quarter.

Jalen Smith's patient dunk through traffic to start the fourth provided a good omen for Indiana. But Zach Collins and Walker drilled back-to-back threes quickly to trim the Spurs' deficit to 99-88. A third Spurs triple provided by Josh Richardson at the 9:06 mark cut the gap to 10.

Fortunately, the Blue & Gold stepped up on the offensive end. Hield started things with a floater. After a Spurs bucket, Haliburton sank a triple. When San Antonio responded again, Jackson and Smith finished with back-to-back buckets around the rim. Then, Hield followed with a trey from the top of the key. The Pacers led 113-95 with 6:02 to go.

San Antonio mounted a 9-2 run over the next 3:32 to cut the gap to 115-04. But Haliburton added a couple of buckets to keep the Pacers ahead comfortably. His 11-foot pull-up jumper with 1:11 remaining nearly sealed the deal. With 25.2 seconds left, he put the game on ice after picking off Vassell's errant pass for his third steal.

Chris Duarte finished with 15 points and hauled in eight boards, while Goga Bitadze finished in double figures for the third consecutive game (10). Bitadze also tallied four blocks.

Indiana tallied 19 second-chance points on 8-of-10 shooting.

"I think (it's) just being familiar with the guys and continuing to build chemistry with them. It's still under 20 games with the new guys. We're just continuing to build — believing in each other at a high level. All of us are playing good basketball. We're just trying to put good days together and win basketball games." –Washington Jr. on his elevated performance lately

"Wash is an aggressive player that's fearless. And unselfish. He gives himself a chance to get going every night. Generally, he does it in a way that's within the team concept, and is in the rhythm of the game." –Carlisle on Washington's performance

The Pacers' defense limited San Antonio to 6-of-24 (25 percent) shooting in the third quarter.

The Pacers head to Atlanta to take on Trae Young and the Hawks on the second night of a back-to-back on Sunday, March 13 at 7:00 PM ET.

The Pacers return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse to host Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday, March 15 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets »