SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Forward Lauri Markkanen scored 35 points on 13 of 19 shooting to lead the Jazz to a 152-128 blowout of the Pacers on Tuesday night at the Delta Center, scoring a season-high for a Pacers opponent while the Pacers scored the most they’ve had in four quarters of regulation.

The Pacers have lost five straight games and fell to 1-10 in the worst start in franchise history. The Jazz improved to 4-7.

Jazz forward Ace Bailey, a rookie and the No. 5 pick in this year’s draft, scored 20 points with four 3-pointers. Center Kyle Filipowski had 16 points, wing Syi Mykhailiuk had 20 on 8 of 10 shooting and wing Brice Sensabaugh scored 16. All-Star Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 27 points, guard Andrew Nembhard scored 25 and forward Aaron Nesmith added 17.

Here are three observations.

Jazz rip Pacers’ defense apart with 3s

The Jazz fell behind 10-0 out of the gate and 20-10 early in the first quarter to the Pacers, but their offense roared back with exceptional movement, spacing and shooting. By the end of the first quarter they had already re-taken control with a 38-34 lead and they never stopped pouring it on until they put the game away.

A 38-point first quarter was followed by a 32-point second quarter to give the Jazz a 70-57 lead at the break and then a 44-point third quarter broke the Pacers’ backs.

Lauri Markkanen and Ace Bailey led the charge. Markkanen was 5 of 7 from beyond the arc and Bailey, the rookie out of Rutgers, hit 4 of 8, but there were 3s coming from several other places. Sensabaugh hit on 4 of his 9 attempts and Syl Mykhailiuk was 3 of 5 from beyond the arc.

The Jazz hit 19 of 42 3-pointers while also shooting 51 of 92 from the floor. They finished with 60 points in the paint on 30 of 44 shooting and were excellent on the offensive boards, in part, due to the spacing. There weren’t nearly as many rebounds to get on the Jazz side as they were on the Pacers side, but the Jazz grabbed 13 offensive rebounds to the Pacers’ 20 defensive boards and won the rebounding battle 45-35 and scored 23 second-chance points.

The Pacers had something to do with that. They were slow on closeouts, got lost in some of the Jazz’s off-the-ball screening actions and they lost too many loose ball battles. But the Jazz earned enough of their buckets in one of their most impressive offensive outputs of the season.

Pacers cold from outside again

The Pacers entered Tuesday’s game ranked last in the NBA in field goal percentage and 29th of the 30 teams in 3-point percentage with the Mavericks having fallen a few tenths of a percentage point below them in their loss Monday night. It looked like things might improve when the Pacers got two early 3s from Nembhard and an early one from Aaron Nesmith, but instead their slump mostly continued.

The Pacers finished the first quarter 3 of 9 from 3-point range and things got worse from there. They made just 2 of 13 in the second quarter and 2 of 5 in the third. They made a few once the game had been decided in the fourth but still finished 10 of 37 from beyond the arc for the game.

The Pacers got some looks at the rim and some second-chance opportunities and their 128 points ranked first among their offensive outputs in this star-crossed season. But their inability to make outside shots made it impossible for them to keep up with sizzling Utah.

T.J. McConnell brings back scoring punch in return

T.J. McConnell played his first regular season game of 2025-26 on Tuesday after missing more than a month with a hamstring strain.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said he would monitor McConnell’s minutes closely in his return and he did, as McConnell finished with just 11 minutes and 26 seconds. With the game getting out of hand in the second half, McConnell didn’t play after halftime. There were signs that he still needs to get his wind all the way back as his non-stop style of play requires elite conditioning. However, the Pacers have desperately needed playmakers who can break down opposing defenses off the dribble and McConnell proved he can still be that.

With his mid-range jumper working and setting up his ability to get to the rim, McConnell scored 12 points on 6 of 12 shooting in minimal minutes. Also of note, however, was the fact that he only had one assist, which had less to do with him moving the ball than it was the fact that the second unit he was working with struggled to score while he was in the game.

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