Pascal Siakam has 24 points and 10 rebounds as Pacers win 5th straight, 104-98 over Wizards
Pascal Siakam has 24 points and 10 rebounds as Pacers win 5th straight, 104-98 over Wizards
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Pascal Siakam scored 24 points and had 10 rebounds, Tyrese Haliburton had 22 points and the Indiana Pacers won their fifth straight game, 104-98 over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night.
Bennedict Mathurin had 17 for the Pacers who pulled away late for the win.
Justin Champagnie had 20 points and 13 rebounds for Washington, while Alex Sarr had 20 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks as Washington lost its third in a row and for the sixth time in its last seven games.
Wizards backup forward Anthony Gill left the game with right hamstring soreness after going scoreless in 7 minutes.
The Wizards scored just 13 second-quarter points but game was still tied at 48-48 at half.
Takeaways
The lottery-bound Wizards, who are in last place in the Eastern Conference, took their 62nd loss. Two losses in their final three games would give them the second-worst record in franchise history, better than only last season (15-67).
The Pacers, who took a three-game lead on Milwaukee into the night, moved one step closer to clinching the No. 4 seed and homecourt advantage for the first round of the playoffs.
Key moment
Siakam’s basket with 2:04 to play gave the Pacers the lead for good at 94-92, then Aaron Nesmith and Myles Turner hit 3-pointers down the stretch to put the game away. Turner’s 3 with 53 seconds to play made it 100-94.
Key stat
The Pacers took 37 free throws and hit 29 of them, while the Wizards were 11 of 15 from the line.
Up next
The Wizards play host to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night.
The Pacers are back at home to face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
