NBA

New Orleans Pelicans at Indiana Pacers

· National Basketball Association
4-14, 1-8 Away
Final
110 - 114

8-10, 6-2 Home

Haliburton scores 34 and delivers key plays in the clutch to send Pacers past Pelicans 114-110

Elfrid Payton celebrates NBA return with career night

Haliburton's tiebreaking 3 with 3:06 to go and Bennedict Mathurin's alley-oop dunk off Haliburton's pass with a minute left finally secured the win.

Myles Turner added 17 points, including seven straight during a fourth-quarter flurry that swung the momentum back to the Pacers.

Trey Murphy III led the Pelicans with 24 points, matching his season high. CJ McCollum added 23 points in his first action in nearly a month, and Elfrid Payton dished out a career high 21 assists — the most in an NBA game this season.

The Pelicans have lost five straight, this one with WNBA star Caitlin Clark watching inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse to the delight of some girls dressed in Clark's Indiana Fever and Iowa jerseys.

Takeaways Pelicans: With four projected opening day starters sitting out because of injuries (Brandon Ingram, Herbert Jones, Dejounte Murray and Zion Williamson), it's hard to read much into Monday's result. McCollum's return could be a promising sign.

Pacers: Indiana also has been less than full strength with Andrew Nembhard (knee) and Aaron Nesmith (ankle) out again. Still, it's used the first two games of a four-game home stand to pull within two games of .500.

Key moment With the score tied at 104, Haliburton knocked down a 3, followed with a layup and then fed Mathurin for the dunk that brought the crowd to its feet. The Pelicans didn't recover from that flurry.

Key stat Haliburton has scored 73 points in his last three games, his top scoring output over a three-game stretch this season. His previous high was 58.

Up next New Orleans returns home to host the Toronto Raptors while the Pacers host the Portland Trail Balzers on Wednesday night.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 1-1

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 110 - 114
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 110 - 114
4th 1.1 Javonte Green makes 1-foot layup (Elfrid Payton assists) 110 - 114
4th 2.1 Javonte Green enters the game for Brandon Boston Jr. 108 - 114
4th 2.1 Enrique Freeman enters the game for Myles Turner 108 - 114

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/no.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNO https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/ind.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originIND
45-87 FG 43-91
52 Field Goal % 47
9-33 3PT 17-47
27 Three Point % 36
11-19 FT 11-16
58 Free Throw % 69
44 Rebounds 41
8 Offensive Rebounds 7
36 Defensive Rebounds 34
35 Assists 30
9 Steals 10
3 Blocks 2
15 Turnovers 13
0 Team Turnovers 2
15 Total Turnovers 15
0 Technical Fouls 0
0 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
17 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 15
6 Fast Break Points 16
60 Points in Paint 48
16 Fouls 16
2 Largest Lead 17
Indiana Pacers Indiana Pacers Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
T.J. McConnell, G Day-To-Day Dec 21
Johnny Furphy, G Day-To-Day Dec 21
Ben Sheppard, G Out Dec 19
Aaron Nesmith, G Out Nov 15
Obi Toppin, F Out Oct 31
New Orleans Pelicans New Orleans Pelicans Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Herbert Jones, F Day-To-Day Dec 21
Dejounte Murray, G Out Sep 25

Game Information

Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Location: Indianapolis, IN
Attendance: 16,059 · Capacity:

2025-26 Southwest Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
San Antonio 21 7 .750 - W6
Houston 17 9 .654 3 L1
Memphis 13 15 .464 8 L1
Dallas 11 18 .379 10.5 L1
New Orleans 7 22 .241 14.5 W4

2025-26 Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Detroit 22 6 .786 - W1
Cleveland 15 14 .517 7.5 L3
Chicago 13 15 .464 9 W3
Milwaukee 11 18 .379 11.5 L3
Indiana 6 22 .214 16 L4
Full Standings

NBA News

Philadelphia and Brooklyn square off for conference showdown

Philadelphia and Brooklyn square off for conference showdown

Brooklyn Nets (8-19, 13th in the Eastern Conference) vs. Philadelphia 76ers (16-11, fourth in the Eastern Conference)

Toronto visits Miami for conference showdown

Toronto visits Miami for conference showdown

Toronto Raptors (17-13, sixth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Miami Heat (15-14, eighth in the Eastern Conference)

Harden, Clippers to host Sengun and the Rockets

Harden, Clippers to host Sengun and the Rockets

Houston Rockets (17-8, sixth in the Western Conference) vs. Los Angeles Clippers (7-21, 13th in the Western Conference)

Booker and the Suns host conference foe Los Angeles

Booker and the Suns host conference foe Los Angeles

Los Angeles Lakers (19-8, fourth in the Western Conference) vs. Phoenix Suns (15-13, seventh in the Western Conference)

Chicago plays Atlanta on 3-game win streak

Chicago plays Atlanta on 3-game win streak

Chicago Bulls (13-15, 10th in the Eastern Conference) vs. Atlanta Hawks (15-15, ninth in the Eastern Conference)