Wizards at Pacers: Washington outpaced 112-104 in Indiana slugfest

A slow start to the 3rd doomed D.C. in this one.

The Washington Wizards were unable to upset the Tyrese Haliburton-less Indiana Pacers on Wednesday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The visitors lost 112-104 in a game that was expected to be a fast-paced, high-scoring affair.

The Wizards actually played some decent defense in the first half against the Pacers. D.C.’s D limited Indiana to 20/46 shooting for 43.5% FG in the first two quarters. The problem was the Wizards shot even worse with a 20/48 clip for 41.7% FG.

There were a whopping 16 lead changes in the first half with neither team going up by more than six points.

Corey Kispert buoyed the Wizards’ offense early. He led Washington with 15 points before halftime — 13 of them coming in Q2. Jordan Poole added 11 points as the Wizards held a 55-54 advantage at the break.

The Pacers came out of the locker room locked in.

They started the second half with a 10-0 run to take a 64-55 lead over the Wiz. Poole got hot in the third to keep his team within striking distance. He had 10 points and 4 assists in Q3, including his final dish to Bilal Coulibaly for a monster jam (scroll down if you like dunks) to close the third.

Poole’s big night wasn’t enough to keep the Wiz close for long as Washington fell behind by as much as 17 points in the fourth quarter.

Poole led all scorers with 28 points on 11/21 shooting to go along with 4 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals. Kispert, who was held scoreless in the second half, and Deni Avdija each tallied 15 points. Daniel Gafford also hosted an Indy block party during the game with 6 swats.

Couli-Watch

The Wizards rookie only made one of his five field goal attempts. However, his lone make was an emphatic flush over Pacers shot-blocker Isaiah Jackson. Coulibaly finished with 5 points and 6 rebounds.