Tyrese Haliburton continued his heater on Wednesday night with 22 points and 10 assists as the Indiana Pacers defeated the Charlotte Hornets 119-105.
Haliburton earned his double-double playing a clean game without a single turnover for the Pacers (45-31). It was not a one man show. He received support from Aaron Nesmith (16 points), Pascal Siakam (15) and Myles Turner (15) as six Pacers scored in double figures.
Indiana took over fourth place in the Eastern Conference with its second straight win.
Miles Bridges had 18 points for Charlotte (19-57). Mark Williams posted a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Seth Curry added 16 points.
Guard Damion Baugh left the game early with an injury in the third quarter for the Hornets, who put themselves behind the eight ball by coughing it up 18 times, on which they gave up 29 points.
In the first quarter, the Pacers’ stifling defense came up with six giveaways, while at the other end they were on fire from downtown, hitting 7 of 13 from 3-point range to hold a 32-25 lead.
The Pacers began the second quarter on a 9-2 run and threatened to break the game open, before the Hornets answered with a 10-0 spurt of their own.
Embed from Getty ImagesBoth team’s offenses navigated their way through cold stretches as the Hornets narrowly won a sluggish 21-20 quarter to shrink the Pacers’ cushion to eight, 53-45 at halftime.
Charlotte managed to close the gap even more, to 68-67 in the third before being outplayed by Indiana down the stretch.
As the turnovers mounted once again for the Hornets, the Pacers attacked.
Toppin’s show-stopping dunk from a nifty Haliburton’s bounce pass was the highlight of a 15-4 close to the third quarter, at the end of which Indiana led by 14, 87-73.
The Hornets started the final frame with back-to-back 3-pointers and a Jusuf Nurkic layup as they fought their way back in it.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle called a timeout and restored order, engineered by Nesmith.
He followed a three-point play with back-to-back 3-pointers and a layup to give Indiana breathing room.
The Hornets host DeMar DeRozan and the Sacramento Kings on Friday.
The Pacers host the Utah Jazz on Friday.
