National Basketball Association
Indiana 108, Portland 99
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, January 6, 2023
Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Officials: #50 Gediminas Petraitis, #11 Derrick Collins, #48 Scott Foster
Attendance: 16548

Rookie Bennedict Mathurin scored 19 points and Tyrese Haliburton collected 15 points and 12 assists to fuel the host Indiana Pacers to a 108-99 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday at Indianapolis.

Myles Turner recorded 17 points and seven rebounds and Isaiah Jackson scored 12 points after being recalled from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the G League earlier on Friday.

Buddy Hield scored all 11 of his points in the second half for the Pacers, who have won five in a row at home and avenged a 116-100 loss to Portland on Dec. 4.

Portland's Anfernee Simons scored 20 points, Damian Lillard added 19 and eight assists and Jerami Grant had 15 points.

Jusuf Nurkic collected 14 points and 19 rebounds for Portland while battling a non-COVID-19 illness. Josh Hart recorded 12 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Trail Blazers, who have lost six of their last eight games.

Portland held a 97-93 lead with 6:40 to play before Indiana finished with a flourish. Aaron Nesmith and Hield each made short buckets and Haliburton drained a 3-pointer to stake the Pacers to a 106-99 lead. Nesmith added a pair of free throws to seal the win.

Hield was held scoreless in the first half before he made a pair of 3-pointers and sank three straight free throws to lift Indiana to a 78-70 lead with 4:08 left in the third quarter. The Blazers, however, closed the quarter on a 12-3 run.

Indiana built a 49-38 lead with 3:46 remaining in the second quarter before Portland responded with a surge. Lillard and Simons highlighted that stretch by draining 3-pointers before Hart converted from beyond the arc with 1.1 seconds left to give the Trail Blazers a 55-54 lead at halftime.

Portland bolted out of the blocks by scoring the first 10 points of the game. The Pacers chipped away at the deficit, with Jackson making all four of his shot attempts to finish with nine points to trim the Trail Blazers' lead to 29-26 after one quarter.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Portland   Indiana
Anfernee Simons 20 Scoring Bennedict Mathurin 19
Josh Hart 8 Assists Tyrese Haliburton 12
Jusuf Nurkic 19 Rebounds Aaron Nesmith 7
Damian Lillard 4 Free Throws Made Bennedict Mathurin 7
Josh Hart 1 Steals Buddy Hield 2
Jusuf Nurkic 1 Blocks Isaiah Jackson 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Portland 99 40.4 9-33 14-17 30 52 1 5 18
Indiana 108 45.2 7-25 25-28 22 41 6 11 14
Upcoming Games
  • Indiana will play their next game at home against Charlotte. The Pacers have a W/L % of .476 after a win and .632 after a loss.
  • Portland will play their next game on the road against Toronto. The Trail Blazers have a W/L % of .421 after a win and .579 after a loss.