“Toppin had one of his most impactful games since he’s been a Pacer.”

Forward Obi Toppin and guard Bennedict Mathurin combined to score 59 points including 46 in the second half and overtime to help the Pacers rally back from 19 points down to steal a 134-130 overtime win over the Wizards, avoiding what would have been a humiliating loss to the NBA’s worst team just before the All-Star break.

The Pacers snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 30-23. They enter the break at fourth place in the Eastern Conference with a one-game lead over the fifth-place Bucks. The Wizards are 9-45, the worst record in the NBA.

Here are five observations.

Obi Toppin kept Pacers alive vs Wizards

If Toppin hadn’t given the Pacers the best performance in his two seasons with the franchise and one of the best performances of his professional career, they certainly would have gone into the break riding a three-game losing streak with this one being particularly humiliating.

Prior to Wednesday night, Toppin had cracked the 20-point barrier just twice this season and hadn’t done so since Dec. 13. The Pacers have usually been able to rely on him for 8-14 points per night off the bench, and he entered Wednesday averaging 9.9 per game on 53.4% shooting. However, he’d been held under double figures in seven of his previous 14 games and had eclipsed 15 points just once in that stretch.

Toppin had been particularly streaky from 3-point range. In his previous four games heading into Wednesday night, he made just 3-of-13 3-pointers. He was shooting 29.2% from 3 in February after shooting 34.3% in January and 40.8% from beyond the arc in December.

Early on Wednesday, however, he was one of the only Pacers making shots. At the break he was 4-of-5 from the floor and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc for a team-high 11 points. The Pacers had just 47 points as a team, trailing by 13 at the break and shooting 39.6% from the floor (19-of-48). The Pacers were 6-of-15 from 3, but Toppin and forward Aaron Nesmith were a combined 4-of-5 from 3 and the rest of the team was 2-of-10.

In the third quarter the Pacers relied even more heavily on Toppin to keep them in it while the Wizards got hot and threatened to run away with the game. Toppin scored 17 of the Pacers’ 37 points in the third quarter, helping the Pacers match the Wizards to keep the deficit at 13 heading into the fourth.

“I was just coming in and bringing energy,” Toppin said. “Hit open shots. We got great guards who find all of us for open shots. They draw so much attention for Ty (Haliburton) and T.J. (McConnell). Just going in there and bringing energy both offensively and defensively.”

Toppin didn’t score in the fourth quarter when the Pacers came back and took the lead before forcing overtime, but his 3-pointer with 1:26 to go in overtime put the Pacers up 131-122, giving them just enough space to hold on.

Toppin’s 31 points were the most he’s scored with the Pacers and the most he’s scored since he had 34 for the Knicks against the Pacers in April 2023. He also grabbed 10 rebounds which was critical with the Pacers playing without injured starting center Myles Turner as well as reserve forward Jarace Walker.

“Toppin had one of his most impactful games since he’s been a Pacer,” coach Rick Carlisle said in a post-game interview with FanDuel Sports Network Indiana.

Bennedict Mathurin was ‘spectacular’

Carlisle said he moved Mathurin to the bench in favor of Nesmith back into the starting lineup in part because he likes the scoring Mathurin can bring off the bench. Whether Mathurin views that as a demotion or not, he’s giving Carlisle what he’s asked for in his return to the bench scorer role.

After scoring 18 points in Tuesday’s loss to the Knicks in his return to the bench, Mathurin took a while to get going Wednesday, but once he did he was virtually unstoppable.

Mathurin scored just two first-half points on 1-of-4 shooting, however he got going in the third quarter about the same time Toppin did. He scored 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the third. He kept it rolling in the fourth with 11 more points and then got two more buckets with acrobatic finishes at the rim in overtime.

All told, Mathurin was 10-of-15 from the floor in the second half and overtime for 26 points out of his 28 total. He added five rebounds and four assists and was a team-best +21 in 32 minutes and 47 seconds on the floor. He played all 17 minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime.

“Mathurin was spectacular,” Carlisle said. “The shots he was was making in the fourth quarter and in overtime were breathtaking.”

He also seems to be handling the move back to the bench well. He’s started 44 games this season — more than the 36 he started in his first two seasons combined — but seems to understand the move.

“No ego,” Mathurin said. “I’m trying to do whatever I can to help my team win. At the end of the day, if my team wins, it’s good for them and it’s good for me. It’s a plus-plus. So I’m just trying to stay locked in on the things I can control and help my team win.”

Pacers keep winning on turnover margin

One of the driving forces that allowed Indiana to close the gap Wednesday was full-court pressure defense and the ability to force turnovers and turn defense into offense.

The Pacers caused 18 turnovers including 10 in the second half and overtime and turned those into 30 points including 16 in the second half and two in overtime.

Meanwhile, the Pacers turned the ball over just nine times and the Wizards turned those into just eight points. It wasn’t for lack of passing as the Pacers recorded 38 assists on 50 field goals.

The turnover margin has been a key part of the Pacers’ turnaround since mid-December and especially since January as they’ve turned on the full-court pressure. Since Jan. 1, they’re committing just 11.7 turnovers per game — the second-lowest figure in the NBA in that period — and their opponents are averaging 16.3 per game, the second-highest figure in the league in that stretch. They’re second in the league in points off turnovers in that period (20.9 per game) and they allow the third-fewest points off turnovers (14.9 per game.) They’ve scored at least 30 points off turnovers in four games this season with three of those coming since Jan. 26.

Pacers starters all struggled but had their moments vs Wizards

The Pacers needed so much from Toppin and Mathurin in part because they didn’t get what they usually get from their starting five. The Pacers got 73 points from their bench, which means they got 61 from their starters. Mathurin and Toppin hit nine 3-pointers combined on 16 attempts. The starters were 7-of-18.

Still, the starters persevered and each had big moments. Tyrese Haliburton scored 20 points on 8-of-18 shooting including 4-of-8 from 3 and had seven assists. He hit two fourth-quarter 3s — one of which tied the score and the other gave the Pacers a three-point lead. His driving reverse layup with 3:13 to go in overtime started the 9-0 run that won the Pacers the game.

Pascal Siakam had one of his worst shooting nights of the year, making just 5-of-16 field goal attempts and missing all three of his 3s. However, he still finished with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists and hit three huge free throws to put the game away.

Guard Andrew Nembhard struggled on defense against Jordan Poole for most of the night, but he forced Poole to take a deep 3 at the end of regulation to force overtime after Nembhard hit two free throws with 15 seconds left that tied the score. Nesmith scored eight points with two first half 3-pointers that kept the game from going sideways and center Thomas Bryant had nine points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Pacers need NBA All-Star break badly

Obviously, it’s not optimal to require a 19-point comeback and overtime to beat the worst team in the NBA, and there was a lot of ugly for the Pacers in the first three quarters that made it clear they are in desperate need of the week off most of them have coming.

The Wizards — playing without newly acquired Khris Middleton and Marcus Smart — knocked down 23 3-pointers including 12-on-19 attempts in the middle two quarters of regulation and many of those were open shots. Poole scored 42 points, joining the Lakers’ Austin Reaves and the Knicks Karl-Anthony Towns as Pacers’ opponents who have scored over 40 points in the past three games.

The Pacers have made defensive strides this year on the whole, but it’s clear that effort is losing momentum lately. Wednesday’s game was the third straight in which they’ve allowed at least 124 points. After posting the third-best defensive rating in the NBA in January, allowing 109.7 points per 100 possessions, they rank 21st in the category so far in February with 117.5.

Their outside shooting is also showing the effects of tired legs. They were 16-of-35 (45.7%) from beyond the arc Wednesday, but for the month of February they’re at 31.8% from 3 after shooting 38.4% from 3 in January.

The Pacers’ schedule before the All-Star break was a bit of a wild ride as it included a trip to Paris for two games against the Spurs followed about 10 days later by a four-game Western Conference swing. They almost paid a heavy price for that Wednesday but escaped. Their schedule to start the post-break homestretch is tough with home games against the Grizzlies, Clippers and Nuggets, but they’ll have time to recharge before those.