Indiana Pacers 111 – Sacramento Kings 109 (Mar. 31st, 2025) Game Recap
Source: Dylan Buell / Getty
1. First Quarter
Tonight marked the start of a three-game homestand with the Indiana Pacers starting Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, and Pascal Siakam, and Thomas Bryant. The Pacers were without Myles Turner as he was dealing with an illness and Bennedict Mathurin with a calf issue. Indiana came out swinging against a struggling Sacramento Kings team. Bryant and Nembhard started the scoring with consecutive triples. Indiana took an early 16-6 lead when Nesmith converted a reverse layup with 6:44 remaining in the quarter. The Kings called a timeout and responded with a 10-0 run to tie the game with two Domantas Sabonis free throws. Sacramento would take its first lead when DeMar DeRozan knocked down two free throws to push the Kings ahead 23-22. Indiana would not take the lead back and would trail Sacramento 28-27 after the first quarter. Sabonis was dominating early, with 12 points and 6 rebounds in the opening period. Indiana’s leader was Jarace Walker off the bench with 7 points. Even though the Pacers shot 55% from the field and 62/5% from the three-point line, they turned the ball over 6 times, resulting in 8 points for Sacramento.
2. Second Quarter
T.J. McConnell gave the Pacers the lead after Sacramento failed to capitalize on its first possession of the second quarter. Indiana would only go ahead by three points when Walker stole the ball from LaVine and then converted with a dunk. Sacramento took the lead back for a few minutes before Toppin drilled a triple to put the Pacers ahead 48-44 with 5:33 remaining in the half. Indiana’s offense would hit a scoring drought after that Toppin three. Sacramento outscored Indiana 16-6 in the final 5:33 to take a 60-54 advantage into halftime. LaVine got it going in the second quarter for Sacramento, scoring 14 of their 32 points. As for Indiana, Siakam paced the team in scoring with 8 points. Indiana struggled shooting the three-ball in the quarter, only knocking down one of its seven attempts. Leading all scorers at the break were Sabonis and LaVine with 14 points. Along with 14 points, Sabonis brought down eight rebounds in the half. Indiana’s leading scorer at halftime was Walker with 9 points.
3. Third Quarter
After a lackluster quarter offensively before intermission, the Indiana Pacers still struggled to put the ball through the hoop to start the second half. Sacramento quickly extended its lead to 74-58 when Keegan Murray banked in an eight-foot jump shot with 6:45 left in the period. Rick Carlisle then subbed in Toppin for Nembhard, Walker for Bryant, and McConnell for Siakam. The Pacers would chip away at its deficit and would cut it to single digits with 3:10 left in the quarter when Toppin drilled his second three of the quarter. His third three-ball would come with 1:56 left in the quarter to make it an 82-76 game. The momentum for Indiana would continue down the stretch. After three quarter, Indiana still trailed Sacramento 86-81. Toppin led all scorers in the quarter with 11 points off the bench for the Pacers followed by Sabonis and Nesmith with 9 points each. Sabonis was leading all players with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Indiana was led by Nesmith and Toppin with 16 points each. Haliburton did not score in the third but went to the fourth with 7 points and 10 assists.
4. Fourth Quarter
The scoring in the final quarter started with a three-pointer from Walker. It brought Indiana within two points for the first time in the second half. However, the Kings would respond with seven straight points to go back ahead by nine points. With 7:33 left in the contest, Indiana was trailing 93-91 after a Nesmith dunk off a pass from T.J. McConnell. Indiana hit a minor lull, not scoring for nearly two minutes. Fortunately, the Pacers defense was keeping them in the game. A Haliburton layup and floater drew the team within a point with 2:35 remaining in the game. After each team missed a shot, Indiana took its first lead in the second half when Haliburton knocked down a patented step back triple to put the Pacers on top 100-98. The Kings couldn’t get a shot off on the following possession because of the Pacers defense. With 36.3 seconds left, Siakam delivered his only three of the game to make it 103-98, an early dagger three. Indiana had to knock down free throws at the end to put the game away. Haliburton knocked down his pair of attempts and Nesmith knocked down his six attempts. Indiana comes from behind to defeat Sacramento 111-109.
5. Top Performers
Aaron Nesmith (24p, 6r, 2b), Obi Toppin (19p, 7r), Tyrese Haliburton (18p, 11a), Jarace Walker (15p, 2a, 2s), and Pascal Siakam (11p, 6a, 3r). For Sacramento, DeMar DeRozan (31p, 8a, 3r), Domantas Sabonis (25p, 16r), Zach LaVine (20p, 5r), and Keegan Murray (12p, 7r). For tonight’s full box score, click here.
6. Notes
- Indiana is now 44-31 and 25-10 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse
- Indiana is 28-13 in 2025
- Indiana is 14-8 after the All-Star break
- Indiana’s magic number to clinch a top six playoff seed is 1
- An Atlanta loss tomorrow night to Portland OR win on Wednesday vs Charlotte
- Indiana is 2 games ahead of Detroit for the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference
- Milwaukee trails Detroit by 1.5 games for 4th
- Indiana has swept the Sacramento Kings for the first time since the 2017-2018 season
- Indiana picked up its 6th win of the season when trailing by 15+ points
- Aaron Nesmith has scored 20+ points in 4 games this season
- DeMar DeRozan has scored 30+ points in 12 games this season
- Domantas Sabonis recorded his 55th double-double of the season – leads the league
- Domantas Sabonis did not record an assist for the first time since December 13th, 2021 (256 consecutive games with one assist)
- Domantas Sabonis has scored 20+ points in 31 games this season
- Obi Toppin has knocked down 2+ threes in 7 of his last 10 games
- Pascal Siakam is 4/21 (19%) on three-pointers in the last seven games
- Tyrese Haliburton recorded his 28th double-double on the season
- Tyrese Haliburton’s 5 turnovers tied a season high
- The 6th time this season he’s turned the ball over 4+
- Zach LaVine has scored 20+ points in 43 games this season
7. Next Up
Game two of Indiana’s three-game homestand will be on Wednesday night when the Charlotte Hornets make their final appearance at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The pregame show with Pat Boylan will start at 6:30pm followed by the play-by-play coverage by Mark Boyle and Eddie Gill at 7pm on 93.5/107.5 The Fan.
Indiana Pacers 111 – Sacramento Kings 109 (Mar. 31st, 2025) Game Recap was originally published on 1075thefan.com
