The Indiana Pacers start the 2025-26 season with a 141-135 double overtime loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Bennedict Mathurin (36 points, 11 rebounds), who fouls out in the second overtime, and Pascal Siakam (32 points, 15 rebounds) lead the Pacers, with help from Obi Toppin (20 points), Jarace Walker (13) and Ben Sheppard (15).

The Pacers lose point guard Andrew Nembhard to a first-half left shoulder injury. The extent of the injury isn’t known.

The Pacers visit the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night.

From Dustin Dopirak: Pacers keep pace without Haliburton (or any point guards)

The Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, last season’s MVP, scores a career-high 55 points with 8 rebounds. He makes 23-of-26 free throws.

Ajay Mitchell adds 26 points off the OKC bench, while Aaron Wiggins scores 23 and Chet Holmgren 15 with 12 rebounds.

OKC runs its lead to 135-128 before Ben Sheppard hits a 3-pointer. He fouls out with 59.8 seconds left.

End OT: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander misses a driving shot. Yet another overtime. The Thunder become the first team in NBA history to go to double overtime in their first two games of a season.12.5 left OT: Bennedict Mathurin hits a short jumper, ties it at 124.26.4 left OT: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores, OKC leads 124-122.:54.2 left OT: Ajay Mitchell hits 2 free throws, tied 122.1:03 left OT: Pascal Siakam scores, Indiana leads 122-1201:19 left OT: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drives and scores, tied at 1201:31 left OT: Jarace Walker hits a short jumper, Indiana leads 120-1181:48 left OT: Ajay Mitchell and-1, ties score at 118.

Pacers 118, Thunder 115, 2:08 left OT: Obi Toppin’s 3-pointer gets stuck in the rim, prompting a jump ball at center court.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander airballs a 3-pointer while double-teamed. On to overtime.

Pacers 113, Thunder 113, :06.5 left 4Q: Pascal Siakam hits a jumper to tie it.

:13.0 left: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 1-of-2 free throws, OKC 113-111Pacers miss on two possessions and the Thunder on one.1:14 left: Chet Holmgren 2 free throws, OKC up 112-1111:22 left: Jarace Walker reverse layup, Indiana up 111-1101:37 left: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander driving layup, OKC up 110-109

Pacers 104, Thunder 101, 4:49 left 4Q: Bennedict Mathurin is up to 27 points and 9 rebounds. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (34 points, 14-of-15 free throws) will be re-entering the game after the timeout.

Indiana’s Aaron Nesmith fouls out with 6:08 to go. He scores 5 points with 7 rebounds.

Pacers 95, Thunder 94, 6:42 left 4Q: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is up to 34 points. Indiana’s Pascal Siakam has 25 points and 13 rebounds, and Bennedict Mathurin 22 points (with 2 free throws on the way). Siakam made his first 3 free throws but is 1-of-7 since.

Thunder 81, Pacers 78, end 3Q: Aaron Wiggins is up to 15 points and 6 rebounds, with 3-of-6 3-point shooting.

Pacers 74, Thunder 72, 2:57 left 3Q: Taelon Peter gets his first made 3-pointer during a 12-2 run. Bennedict Mathurin’s and-1 puts Indiana ahead 71-70 with 3:53 to go. He has 17 points and 7 rebounds. Jarace Walker’s 3-pointer with 4:57 to go ties the score at 68.

Ben Sheppard starts the second half as Pacers point guard Andrew Nembhard (left shoulder) is out for the rest of the game. More.

Thunder 54, Pacers 47, halftime: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has 21 points (11-of-12 free throws) to lead the Thunder, and Ajay Mitchell has 10. Pascal Siakam has 14 with 6 rebounds, and Obi Toppin 10 points for the Pacers.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle picks up a technical in the final minute. More.

Bunch of stuff happened fast and Carlisle got a technical and I didn’t figure out what happened on the inbound. Nesmith thought the Pacers should’ve got the ball.

— Dustin Dopirak (@DustinDopirak) October 24, 2025

Thunder 44, Pacers 39, 3:21 left 2Q: Both teams are struggling from the field: Oklahoma City is 42.4% overall, 4-of-14 on 3-pointers; Indiana is 36.4%, 4-of-15. Indiana misses 10 straight 3s before Ben Sheppard hits to tie the score at 39.

Aaron Wiggins 3 puts the Thunder up 44-39. Pacers call timeout. Getting pretty rock fighty and very war-of-attrition.

— Dustin Dopirak (@DustinDopirak) October 24, 2025

Thunder 35, Pacers 33, 7:08 left 2Q: Lu Dort’s 3-pointer puts OKC ahead. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander keeps getting to the free throw line. He’s 7-of-8 there with 15 points.

Pacers 25, Thunder 22, end 1Q: Indiana made its first 3 3-pointers. Besides that, the teams are a combined 0-of-16 from deep.

Pacers 23, Thunder 18, 2:58 left 1Q: Pascal Siakam has 11 points for Indiana, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 10 for OKC.

Pacers 13, Thunder 11, 6:56 left 1Q: OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has 7 points, including 5-of-6 free throws already, and will try to complete an and-1 coming out of the timeout. Bennedict Mathurin and Pascal Siakam have 5 points each for Indiana.

The Thunder’s Lu Dort, and the Pacers’ Andrew Nembhard and Isaiah Jackson all have 2 early fouls.

A moment of silence? No way. Pacers fans holler and cheer to remember Nancy Leonard, the former Pacers GM and wife of the late coach Bobby “Slick” Leonard. She died in September. Here’s more about the response.

Andrew Nembhard, Bennedict Mathurin, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, Isaiah Jackson

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle coached Chauncey Billups on the Detroit Pistons in 2002-03. Billups, now the Portland Trail Blazers coach, was arrested Thursday in the wake of an FBI investigation into alleged illegal poker and sports gambling schemes. Miami Heat player Terry Rozier and former player and assistant coach Damon Jones were also arrested.

Carlisle on the FBI gambling investigation: “It’s a shocking day. I reached out today to talk to Chauncey to see how he was doing. He did not respond. … This is a very serious situation.”

— Dustin Dopirak (@DustinDopirak) October 23, 2025

Lu Dort (ankle) is available and Cason Wallace (knee) is out.

Start time: The Indiana Pacers-Oklahoma City Thunder game is at 7:30 p.m. ET Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

TV: ESPN, with Mike Breen (play-by-play), Tim Legler and Richard Jefferson (analysis), and Katie George (sideline reporting)

Watch the Pacers with a free Fubo trial

Radio: 93.5 and 107.5 FM in Indianapolis, with Mark Boyle (play-by-play), Eddie Gill (analysis) and Pat Boylan (sideline reporting)

Stream: SiriusXM Channel 86

Dustin Dopirak, IndyStar: Thunder 116-109

“There was a significant thing that happened when these two teams met in the NBA Finals that makes this feel a lot less like an NBA Finals rematch.

“Tyrese Haliburton was arguably the main character in that series even in defeat and his tragic finish to the series — an Achilles tendon tear — changes the structure of this game dramatically. The Pacers key returners have made progress in preseason in learning how to work without him, but the hamstring injury to T.J. McConnell that will keep him out for at least 2 ½ more weeks has thrown their second unit for a loop.

“The Thunder have been hit hard by injuries also, as Jalen Williams, Alex Caruso, Kenrich Williams and Isaiah Joe are all out, and Luguentz Dort and Cason Wallace are questionable. However, they still have MVP Shai Gilgeous Alexander and Chet Holmgren and some remaining second-unit depth and that might be enough for them to start 2-0.”

Check out Pacers-Thunder tickets on StubHub

via BetMGMFavorite: Thunder by 7.5 pointsOver/under: 229.5 total pointsMoneyline: Pacers +260, Thunder -325ESPN’s matchup predictor gives the Thunder a 61.9% chance of winning.

Quenton Jackson (hamstring), Kam Jones (back) and T.J. McConnell (hamstring) are out.

Isaiah Joe (knee), Jalen Williams (wrist), Alex Caruso (concussion), Nikola Topic (groin), Kenrich Williams (knee) are out; Cason Wallace (knee) and Lu Dort (ankle) are questionable.

Never forget last season’s NBA Finals run with our commemorative book

0, Tyrese Haliburton (will miss the 2025-26 season)00, Bennedict Mathurin1, Obi Toppin2, Andrew Nembhard4, Taelon Peter5, Jarace Walker7, Kam Jones9, T.J. McConnell10, RayJ Dennis11, James Wiseman12, Johnny Furphy13, Tony Bradley22, Isaiah Jackson23, Aaron Nesmith26, Ben Sheppard29, Quenton Jackson32, Jay Huff43, Pascal Siakam

Dustin Dopirak covers the Pacers all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Pacers Insider newsletter.