The Thunder host the Pacers on Saturday.
The Indiana Pacers (43-30) and Oklahoma City Thunder (61-12) meet in a cross-conference matchup on Saturday (8 ET, League Pass). The Thunder take aim at a ninth straight win, while the Pacers look to create more separation in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
Here are five things to know ahead of game action:
1. Pacers coming off record-setting win: Indiana will take the floor for the first time after their historical win on Thursday night against Washington. The Pacers’ 162 points and 27 made threes both set franchise records, while the points scored are the most in the NBA by any team in 2024-25.
2. Tyrese Haliburton in rhythm: Haliburton has missed some time due to a back issue, but he’s starting to find his groove at the perfect time. In his last four games, Haliburton is averaging 21.3 points and 11.8 assists on 50.0% shooting in 29 minutes a night, recording a plus-14.3 plus-minus rating (10th in NBA).
3. OKC’s dominant run: The Thunder notched their eighth consecutive victory to improve to 15-1 in the last 16 contests. The 61 wins set a new franchise record in the Oklahoma City era, surpassing the 60-22 mark established in 2012-13. In their current streak, OKC is first in defensive rating (105.8), net rating (16.5), player impact estimate (57.9) and defensive rebounding percentage (78.0), second in three point accuracy (42.2), and third in offensive rating (122.3), effective field goal (58.6) and true shooting percentage (61.7).
4. Jalen Williams back for home stretch: Williams, who missed the previous seven games because of a strained right hip, returned in the Thunder’s 125-104 win over the Grizzlies on Thursday. He finished with a stat line of 20 points (6-for-12 FGs, 7-8 FT), five rebounds and four assists. Williams has now scored at least 20 points in eight of his last nine games played, and he’s putting up career-highs in points (21.3), rebounds (5.5), assists (5.3) and steals (1.6) in his third season.
5. Isaiah Hartenstein is anchoring the defense: Hartenstein has been the anchor behind OKC’s top-ranked defense (106.1 rating), but he’s brought much more to the table in his first season with the Thunder. He’s averaging career-highs in a multitude of categories, including points (11.4), minutes (28.3), rebounds (11.0), assists (3.9), double-doubles (28) and plus-minus (7.8) in his 51 games played. In his last eight outings, Hartenstein has gone for 14.4 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.4 blocks while shooting 56.0% on 10.5 field goal attempts a night.
