Tyrese Haliburton-led Pacers clobber Hawks, 150-116

INDIANAPOLIS — Tyrese Haliburton had 18 of Indiana's franchise-record 50 assists, and the Pacers beat the Atlanta Hawks 150-116 Friday night for their sixth straight victory.

Haliburton, the NBA's assist leader with 12.8 per game, also had 10 points and eight rebounds in just over 25 minutes. Myles Turner led Indiana with 27 points, Bennedict Mathurin had 18, Bruce Brown 17 and Aaron Nesmith 15.

“The assist numbers are huge and obviously the NBA and ABA franchise track record is very strong and a testament to the unselfishness of the team,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “It's something to celebrate. But in this league, celebration times are short. So we'll have to go to bed tonight and rest up for Boston (Saturday). It's truly the biggest test in basketball right now .”

The NBA's highest-scoring team, Indiana, reached 150 points against the Hawks for the second time this season after setting a league high in a 157-152 win at Atlanta on Nov. 21.

It was their third game with 150 points overall this season, one fewer than the rest of the NBA combined and one shy of tying the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers and the 1971-72 San Antonio Spurs. 1978-79 for the most points in a season in league history.

“I liked the way we played,” Carlisle said. “We brought a physical element that needed to be there and we managed to avoid fouls and that helped our defense.”

Haliburton once again played a major role in the victory.

It was his 11th straight game with 10+ assists, extending the longest streak in franchise history and the longest of any player since Russell Westbrook in 2019 (also 11 games). And it was his 10th game with at least 15 assists this season, the most in a season in franchise history and the most by any player since Westbrook in 2020-21 (14).

Haliburton said he developed a great partnership with Turner, who made 10 of 14 shots.

“I feel like we have one of the best pick-and-roll duos in the league, something we can continue to grow on,” Haliburton said.

Turner said the team had a lot of fun together on the field.

“There’s a different energy around this group,” Turner said. “We’ve created an environment here that facilitates an evening like this.”

The Hawks definitely weren't having much fun.

“Sometimes there are games where you didn’t play well and we didn’t,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “I don't know if we did anything at the level we need to do to win against these guys on the road. They're obviously playing well and made it difficult for us. We didn't get it done tonight.”

Snyder said the Hawks allowed the Pacers to get too many easy baskets.

“We have to go back and have the urgency you need against these guys in transition, who started early,” Snyder said.

Dejounte Murray led the Hawks with 30 points. Trae Young missed his first seven shots and finished with 13 points on 4-of-18 shooting. He was 1 of 11 from 3-point range.

The Pacers were without Andrew Nembhard for the second straight game due to back pain.

Information from The Associated Press and ESPN Stats & Information was used in this report.