ATLANTA — Tyrese Haliburton scored 37 points, Buddy Hield hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer in the final minute and the Indiana Pacers beat the Atlanta Hawks 157-152 on Tuesday night to clinch a spot in the NBA in-season tournament quarterfinals.
It’s the seventh regulation game in NBA history to feature both teams scoring at least 150 points, and the Pacers’ 157 points were the most in a game in team history, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
Hield’s jumper from the left wing broke a 152-all tie with 52 seconds left. Dejounte Murray was called for an offensive foul on a 3-point attempt on the Hawks’ next possession, then missed a difficult layup following an Indiana turnover with eight seconds remaining. Hield made a layup at the buzzer.
The Pacers are 3-0 in East Group A with one game left in group play. The Hawks dropped to 1-2. The quarterfinals will be held Dec. 4-5.
“The game was exceedingly difficult, as we knew it would be,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “Down as many as 20, got to 13 at halftime, talked about being resilient and what we needed. We needed to play with more force and aggression at both ends. This is one of those games with so many good offensive players out there that getting conventional old time stops is just…it’s a different game out there.
Haliburton, who leads the NBA in assists, had 16 against the Hawks. Hield had 24 points, and Obi Toppin scored 21 off the bench. Bennedict Mathurin added 19 points, including a buzzer-beating shot to close the third quarter.
Trae Young led the Hawks with 38 points and eight assists. Bogdan Bogdanovic had 26 points on 10-for-15 shooting. Murray scored 28.
The teams entered the game both ranked in the top five in points per game and in the bottom five in points allowed per game, setting up for a high-scoring affair.
“Obviously both teams were hard to guard, and the scoreboard reflected that,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. There was a series of runs, which you’re going to have. It was a tough game. All losses are tough, but I felt like we competed.”
The first half did not disappoint, as the Hawks set a franchise record with 86 points and led 86-73 at the break. According to ESPN Stats & Information, it was the first game since the Pacers beat the Hornets on March 28, 1997, that both teams shot 60% from the floor; the Pacers shot 60.6% and the Hawks shot 60.0% on Tuesday night.
Atlanta led by 20 in the second quarter, but the Pacers came all the way back to tie it at 107 when Haliburton hit a 3 with just under four minutes remaining in the third. Haliburton scored 26 points in the period, and Indiana led 119-114 entering the fourth.
The Pacers shook up their starting lineup, inserting Hield and Aaron Nesmith in place of Toppin and Mathurin.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.