Huge first half and dominant Sabonis leads Pacers to rout of Spurs / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports Credit Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Domantas Sabonis finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds and the Indiana Pacers rolled to a 22-point halftime lead while cruising to a 131-118 (43-33, 35-23, 31-27, 22-35) win over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday in Indianapolis.

Player of the Game EFF 37 Domantas Sabonis Points 24 Accuracy 11-15 Rebounds 13 Assists 6

After losing by seven and three points to the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors, respectively, in their past two games, the Pacers took any suspense out of Monday's game early on while snapping a four-game losing streak.

Indiana built a 25-point advantage midway through the third quarter and waltzed to the finish line, routing a San Antonio team that had allowed just 93 points to the defending league champ, Milwaukee Bucks, on Saturday.

Myles Turner added 19 points for Indiana. Justin Holiday scored 17, Chris Duarte racked up 18, Caris LeVert tallied 16 and T.J. McConnell contributed 10 points and 10 assists. The Pacers sank a season-high 18 3-pointers in the win.

Dejounte Murray led the Spurs with 16 points. Devin Vassell added 15, Derrick White hit for 13, Jakob Poeltl scored 11 points, and Bryn Forbes, Jock Landale, Lonnie Walker IV and Keita Bates-Diop added 10 points each for San Antonio, which has lost five of its past six games.

In the first quarter, Indiana shot 68 percent from the floor, canned 8 of 10 3-point attempts and built a 43-33 lead. Murray kept the Spurs close, scoring 14 in the quarter, but San Antonio committed five turnovers in the period, leading to 11 points.

The Pacers kept rolling in the second quarter, ending up at 63.8 percent shooting and with 12 threes on the way to a 78-56 lead at halftime.

Indiana already had five players in double-figure scoring by halftime, led by Turner's 14 points (12 of which came in the first quarter) and 12 each from LeVert, Sabonis and Holiday.

Murray paced all scorers at the half with 16 points but didn't score after the break while playing just 10 more minutes.

Indiana Pacers: Sabonis 24 (11/15 FG, 13 REB, 6 AST), Turner 19 (7/10 FG, 8 REB), Duarte 18, Justin Holiday 17 (6/8 FG), LeVert 16 (6/19 FG), McConell 10 (10 AST).

San Antonio Spurs: Murray 16 (6 AST), Vassell 15, White 13 (7 AST), Poeltl 11, Landale 10.

Domantas Sabonis's highlights:

Full game highlights:

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