October 26, 2026 at 1:42 AM UTC

Postgame Report

Pacers Bounce Back Hard, Bury Winless Nets 136-109

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Tyrese Haliburton had 24 points and 10 assists as Indiana answered its home-opener loss to Dallas with a 27-point win in Brooklyn, dropping the Nets to 0-3.

Indiana spent the weekend with the memory of Friday's blowout loss to Dallas in its own home opener, and on Sunday it took that out on Brooklyn. The Pacers won 136-109 at Barclays Center. Tyrese Haliburton had a double-double of 24 points and 10 assists in 31 minutes, the most on either team, and Pascal Siakam added 21 points. The game was decided well before the fourth quarter, and Indiana moved to 2-1.

Brooklyn is still looking for its first win. The Nets lost their opener to Charlotte, then fell to Cleveland by four on Saturday night, and this was never going to be a gentle follow-up. Nolan Traore scored 17 and Josh Minott had 15 points and 8 rebounds, but the Nets never got the margin back under control.

The Nets were also playing the second night of a back-to-back against a team that expects to be in the playoff mix, and it showed in how little resistance they had once Indiana got going. The Pacers' bench kept the pressure on. Obi Toppin scored 16, and Jay Huff and Kelly Oubre Jr. each had 14. Andrew Nembhard added 14 more from the starting group. The books had Indiana favored by 7.5 points, and the Pacers covered easily. Their 136 and Brooklyn's 109 also sailed past the total of 231.5.

Brooklyn's brighter days are supposed to come with Julius Randle and Michael Porter Jr., who give this roster a higher ceiling than most of the young teams around it. Randle had 10 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, and Porter had 10 points on a night with no rebounds or assists. That is a thin base for a young team in a deep East, and one more reason the Nets will struggle to climb out of the bottom of the league.

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