The Indiana Pacers have taken revenge in Paris for their defeat two days ago against the San Antonio Spurs. Local hero Victor Wembanyama was unable to make his mark on the game this time. Indiana won comfortably, 136-98.
Instead, the show belonged to Pacers superstar Tyrese Haliburton, who lit up the third quarter. The playmaker scored 18 of his 28 points (11/17 FG, 6/9 three pointers) in this period, draining all four of his shots from outside. The Spurs had previously gained the upper hand after San Antonio trailed 50:65 at half-time.
However, just eight minutes later, that lead had been erased, with a three from Chris Paul (11, 8 assists) giving the Texan club the lead again (80:79), but it was not to last long. Within a good three minutes, Haliburton scored 16 points with five jumpers, and this 19:3 run by the Pacers laid the foundation for success.
Wembanyama was only able to build on his strong performance on Thursday to a limited extent, although Indiana did not make it easy for the Frenchman. The 21-year-old notched up 20 points (7/16) and twelve rebounds, with Harrison Barnes (25, 9/14) and rookie Stephon Castle (17, 7/20, 6 assists) also getting into the scoring.
All of Indiana’s starters scored in double figures, with Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard (15, 8 rebounds, 9 assists) and Pascal Siakam (23, 11 rebounds) standing out in particular. The win sees the Pacers (25-20) remain fifth in the East, while San Antonio (20-23) in the West is slowly falling behind. The Texans are now already two games behind tenth place. Both teams are not in action again until Wednesday night, with San Antonio (against the Clippers) and Indiana (against Detroit) both playing at home.
