Since the calendar flipped to 2025, the Indiana Pacers have quietly boasted the NBA's fourth-best winning percentage. During this stretch, they've thrived on both ends of the court, ranking sixth in offensive rating and eighth in defense. More specifically, the team's unselfishness has been the key to their success following a 10-15 start to the 2024-25 campaign.
Indiana's trust in each other and willingness to get teammates involved was on full display in their romping of the Washington Wizards. The Pacers put on a scoring exhibition en route to a franchise-record 162 points, which (astonishingly) wasn't their most impressive feat of the night. They tallied a whopping 48 assists — the most by any club in a single game this year.
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Pacers set 2024-25 NBA season-high with 48 assists in blowout win vs. Wizards
As the head of the snake, Indiana's ball movement starts and ends with star point guard Tyrese Haliburton. Yet, the Pacers ironically set a leaguewide single-game season-high in dimes on a night when his streak of 12 straight contests with double-digit dishes was snapped.
Sharing is caring, and the Pacers have demonstrably embodied that mindset, specifically in their blowout victory over the Wizards. Six players, including Haliburton, recorded at least five assists. The standout floor general's facilitating is ostensibly contagious and has rubbed off on the rest of the squad.
The Pacers shot 64.1 and 57.4 percent from the field and three, respectively, versus Washington. Nine members of Indiana's roster reached double figures in scoring. It was a death-by-1,000-cuts performance from the Eastern Conference's No. 4 seed, which flexed their muscles and depth versus an inferior Wizards group.
Nevertheless, despite all the eye-opening numbers from Indy's erasure of the Wizards, the gaudy assist count sticks out like a sore thumb. The Pacers are playing for the name on the front of their uniforms, which has paid dividends for the names on the back. They're eager to generate clean looks for one another, with Haliburton putting on a truly special passing clinic over the past month-plus.