Pacers host Heat after wildly entertaining loss to Clippers
The Pacers wrap up their homestand against the Heat after taking a late loss to the Clippers on Friday
Suddenly the Pacers have just four home games remaining in the season, starting on Sunday evening when the host the Heat. The Pacers have a highly questionable injury report once again after enjoying relatively good health in recent losses at home to the Lakers and Clippers.
The 114-113 loss to the Clippers on Friday was yet another game when all who observed had to admit to never seeing what played out in front of them on the court. The Pacers entertained another stellar crowd at the Fieldhouse for much of then night, amassing a 24-point lead in the first half before the Clippers trudged their way back into the game in the second half.
Benn Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson made their return to the Fieldhouse complete with a quality video tribute and loving ovations from the faithful. Mathurin didn’t have his best game, but delivered a lot of what made Pacers fans have his back at all times. He’s always ready to scrap and talk about it and throughout the game had those interactions with Andrew Nemhbard, Aaron Nesmith, TJ McConnell and Quenton Jackson.
Mathurin also played a big role in the most entertaining 0.4 seconds in NBA regular season history or at least Pacers regular season history as the Pacers flipped a win into a loss but not before a wild sequence of events that made it hard to tell if both teams were actually trying to win or lose.
Kawhi Leonard capped off a 28-point night by hitting a right corner of the lane jumper over Nesmith and Jay Huff for what would be the gam winner with 0.4 seconds remaining. Incredibly, that last 0.4 seconds took about 20 minutes to play and included three different possessions and four missed free throw attempts.
On the Pacers initial side out of bounds possession, Andrew Nembhard threw up a lob for Huff to hopefully tap in. The lob appeared to high and then banked in creating a bit of chaos despite the obvious no bucket situation. There was no review of the play, but replays did show Brook Lopez grabbing Huff’s shoulder preventing any chance to jump. Fine.
The Clips then inbound to Mathurin after a bit of scrapping for position with Nesmith, quick foul moves the clock to 0.3 and sends Mathurin to the line where he is in multiple conversations about the situation with Nembhard, Nesmith and QJack. Mathurin misses the fist and then the second on purpose which Siakam rebounds with a quick timeout.
0.1 seconds remain.
On the opposite side of the floor, the Pacers run the same thing with Nembhard lobbing the ball toward the hoop and again, Huff is roughed up while attempting to jump. This time, however, he sells the contact and earns a foul. Now both teams have both had it with the refs and are laughing at the absurdity of this finish.
With two shots for the win or at least a tie, Huff capped the bizarre ending by bouncing both free throws off the back iron, game over, Clips win.
Honestly, a great result for the Pacers even though they all appeared to want to hand Benny that L. We’ll never know all of the true intentions involved in this wild ending, but it was a fitting addition to this godforsaken season for the Pacers.
Now what?
The Pacers host the Heat and enter the game with a bloated injury list after having far fewer questionable players for the Clips. Jarace Walker exited the Cilps’ game early in the first quarter after getting fouled on a spectacular left handed dunk in traffic that sent him to a painful fall on his back. He did not return and remains questionable.
All other players have their usual ailments under consideration. After the last two games, Pascal Siakam has appeared about fed up with this season, showing much more frustration than usual so a night off may do his hoops soul well.
The Heat are tied with the Hornets for the final two spots in the play-in game. They don’t have to worry about falling out of the play-in range, but remain in a tight race with Orlando and Philly for the respective 8th and 7th seeds. Aside from Norman Powell, the Heat are in good shape on the injury report.
Pacers vs. Heat
Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
When: Sunday, March 29, 2026 - 5:00 p.m. ET
TV: FanDuel Sports Network
Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan
Odds: Pacers +9.5
Projected Starters
Pacers: Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Jarace Walker, Pascal Siakam, Jay Huff
Heat: Davion Mitchel, Norman Powell, Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Bam Adebayo
Injuries
Pacers: TJ McConnell (hammy) - questionable, Andrew Nembhard (lower back) - questionable, Aaron Nesmith (lower back) - questionable, Pascal Siakam (knee) - questionable, Jarace Walker (back bruise) - questionable, Obi Toppin (foot) - questionable, Ivica Zubac (ankle) - out, Johnny Furphy (knee) - out, Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles) - out
Heat: Norman Powell (illness) - out, Terry Rozier (not with team) - out