INDIANAPOLIS — Tyrese Haliburton had 21 points and 14 assists, Terry Taylor added 18 points and nine rebounds and the Indiana Pacers beat the Washington Wizards 113-108 on Wednesday night.
Indiana snapped a season-worst seven-game losing streak as it heads into the All-Star break. Tristan Thompson had a season-high 17 points and six rebounds as the Pacers also ended a 16-game skid against Eastern Conference foes.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led the Wizards with 27 points. Kyle Kuzma finished with 26 points, 15 rebounds and matched his season best with six 3-pointers as Washington lost for the fourth time in six games. Kristaps Porzingis continued to sit out with a bruised right knee, and coach Wes Unseld Jr. also ruled out Porzingis for Thursday’s game against Brooklyn.
With both teams starting the day below the Eastern Conference’s play-in round cutline and the long break looming, the game, predictably, lacked energy.
The short-handed Pacers appeared to take control when they scored six straight to take a 76-63 lead late in the third quarter. But Washington steadily cut into the lead, closing to 86-82 early in the fourth and eventually making it 95-94 when Caldwell-Pope made a 3-pointer with 5:18 remaining.
But Indiana answered with six straight and after Caldwell-Pope made back-to-back baskets to twice make it a two-point game in the final 90 seconds, Oshae Brissett’s dunk with 21.3 seconds left finally helped Indiana close out its first win against a team from the East since Dec. 16.
TIP-INS
Wizards: Caldwell-Pope made five 3s. … Deni Adveji had 14 points and seven rebounds. … Ish Smith and Raul Neto each scored 10 points. … After winning all four matchups last season, including an elimination game in the play-in round, Washington is 1-2 against the Pacers this season. The home team has won all three games. … Kuzma has 22 double-doubles this season, already a career high.
Pacers: Buddy Hield had 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds. … Brissett had 17 points and six rebounds. … Lance Stephenson finished with 11 points, six rebounds and four assists. … Indiana has had losing streaks of seven and six games as well as three four-game skids and two three-game losing streaks. … The Pacers are 1-7 in February.
BROGDON UPDATE
Injuries have kept Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon on the bench for all but three games since Dec. 15. Coach Rick Carlisle remains hopeful, though, that Brogdon will return from a sore right Achilles tendon when play resumes following the All-Star break.
“He’s continuing to make good progress and our hope is after the All-Star break he can be ready,” Carlisle said. “Nothing’s for sure, but we’ll see. With an additional seven or eight days, our hope is he could possibly be ready to go.”
UP NEXT
Wizards: Visit Brooklyn on Thursday before heading into the All-Star break.
Pacers: Host Oklahoma City on Feb. 25.
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