Pacers play a game they hoped to have more of vs Thunder as Jarace Walker shines again

MY OFFICE, Ind. – Before the 2025-26 Pacers season began, some believed that many games would feel like Friday night's did. While a variety of factors have prevented it from being a consistent reality this season, the Pacers beat Oklahoma City by showing what the hopefuls envisioned.

The play style that guided them to consecutive Conference Finals and an NBA Finals was on display. They moved the ball and moved themselves in sync, firing off 360 passes. That's well over their 317.4 average for the season.

Andrew Nembhard was sublime in his point guard role. He got to the rim, took threes that went in, and defended well. When next to T.J. McConnell, the Pacers were +8. They haven’t been able to use those two point guard groups much this year, an alignment head coach Rick Carlisle likes to deploy.

"He's ridiculous. Such a big-time player," McConnell said of Nembhard during an in-game interview on the FanDuel Sports Indiana broadcast.

Circle City Spin

The Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever, up close

Circle City SpinTony East

Young players produced. Johnny Furphy hit the glass with 10 rebounds. Ben Sheppard made threes (two of them), and Isiah Jackson pulled in six boards. That’s all vital. But the story of the youngsters group, and the game itself had it not been an NBA Finals payback outing, was Jarace Walker turning in his most dominant professional performance yet.

The 22-year old hit a level he's never reached before. Eight made shots, a career high. Five made two-point shots, a career high. 11 free throw attempts, a career high. Altogether, it led to 26 points. You can guess if that's a career high.

Numbers are important, and Walker's were relevant after his big game against Boston. But first and foremost with the third-year forward – right now, his improvement is something that you can just see and feel. There aren't as many disastrous plays, if any. There is real power and weight to his play, and fewer wasted movements, too. Those are the things that head coach Rick Carlisle has talked about as being the next steps for the young forward.

Shots going in helps, too. Walker is now averaging 13.4 points per game in his last eight outings, including six games reaching double figures. This is the best stretch of his career.

And this, again, is what the idea was for the Pacers this year. All of the preseason questions for the team were about young guys stepping up, a new point guard, the center rotation, play style, and Pascal Siakam as a number one option. A quick checklist:

1. Young players improving: Furphy, Sheppard, and Walker were all important in the win.
2. A new point guard: Nembhard had 27 points, 11 assists, and seven rebounds. In the year 2026, Nembhard is fourth in the NBA in assists per game at 8.7.
3. The center rotation: The Pacers, who entered the year focused on their center by committee, opted to start this game with... none of the committee. But, more to come later, Micah Potter popped in this win and posted a double double.
4. Play style: The Pacers played the style they've been growing since they acquired Tyrese Haliburton. "We've gotta keep the ball moving. Make them move," assistant coach Jim Boylen said during a halftime interview on the broadcast. McConnell agreed. "Pace and ball movement," he said.
5. Siakam as a number one option: After a terrific outing in Boston, Siakam followed it up with 21 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Using his gravity to set up others is the next step of his great season, in my opinion – not that he doesn't now, but he continues to see absurd levels of attention from defenses.

It's not reasonable for the Pacers to expect to check all five of those boxes every single night, and especially not against the best team in the NBA. But Nembhard, Siakam, and Walker in particular gave the Pacers a game in which their short-term and long-term hopes for this season were both on display. It led to a win, and one that the team identified as being emotional after Game 7 in the same building last June.

"Tyrese Haliburton Revenge Game man. It felt good. It felt really good. Just because you've got kind of a small win within a season that hasn't been that good," Nembhard said postgame, per Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. (Big shoutout to Dustin for travelling to cover almost this entire road trip). "It was nice to come together as a group, have a lot of guys contributing."

Speaking of Tyrese Haliburton, where was he?

I was asked almost a dozen times during the game why Haliburton wasn't in attendance. He's been on the road with the Pacers essentially all year but wasn't in the Paycom Center.

Haliburton himself provided the answer by telling Prime Video's Taylor Rooks. "He said that he does not think he's ready to go back there yet. He said it's something I still think about for sure," Rooks shared. "He would like the next time he goes back to be when he can play and get lost in competing and playing the game that he loves rather than staring at that spot on the floor the whole game."

A totally understandable reason. I am adding this note not to compare the players or the injuries or any level of significance, but just to add context to Haliburton's emotions. When Victor Oladipo came back to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the first time as an opponent in 2022, I was waiting to talk with him in the locker room after the game. He wasn't around, and after a while I wandered out to see where he was. Oladipo was actually sitting on the court on the spot where he ruptured his right quad in 2019. He was reflecting. It's a sensitive moment for all athletes.

Micah Potter, the unsung hero

After not starting a center, the Pacers turned to the Potter, Jay Huff, and Isaiah Jackson rotation in the first half. They combined for just under 17 minutes of total play and weren't strikingly productive outside of Jackson and Potter hitting the glass.

A key second half adjustment changed everything. It actually came from the Thunder, who opened the third quarter with Jaylin Williams on the floor instead of Isaiah Joe. OKC opted for more size – Chet Holmgren was on the floor, too.

That shift led to slightly fewer total minutes from a center for the Pacers in the second half, but about 40% more playing time for Potter. He got 15 minutes of burn in the final two quarters and was sharp – his combination of mobility and shooting has been valuable in the Pacers last two matchups.

Rebounding, and the possession battle in general, is crucial against the Thunder. Potter finished with 10 rebounds. Spacing is important, too, and Potter drilled two threes and attempted seven. He wasn't accurate, but the volume shows how he opened up the floor.

In the end, the first-year Pacer had 10 points and 10 rebounds, his second career double-double. Potter made several momentum-shifting plays and was a key counter to the Thunder's change in size. The Pacers wouldn't have won without him.

They'll try to close out this road trip with a win in Atlanta on Monday. So far, the trip has featured a blown fourth-quarter lead, a blowout, and a stabilizing victory. That's almost every type of game the Pacers have played this season, so perhaps a new script is coming against the Hawks. STORY UPDATE: Pacers-Hawks has been moved up by six hours and will tip off at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time due to the weather.

Thank you for reading. I appreciate all the feedback on stories. If you're in Indiana, I hope you are staying warm. Feel free to subscribe below for more from Circle City Spin.