Indiana Pacers – New Orleans Pelicans · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 4 January 2021

IND118–116NOP

Is it worth watching?

Highly recommended

It was more exciting than 95% of NBA games since 2017

· The win probability swung between the two teams 36 times
· It stayed close for almost the whole game

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ NOP winsIND wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when NOP leads and falls when IND does.

This is how the game was decided.

Victor Oladipo decided it, the Indiana Pacers player with the most points (25, with 5 rebounds and 6 assists; +8 with him on the floor); the winner's best plus-minus was Doug McDermott's (+14). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in New Orleans Pelicans 116-118 Indiana Pacers (January 4, 2021) was hit by Malcolm Brogdon: a jump shot with 3.6 s left in overtime, putting the Indiana Pacers up 118-116. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of New Orleans Pelicans 116-118 Indiana Pacers (January 4, 2021) was a 13-0 run by the New Orleans Pelicans in the fourth quarter (from 6:13 to 3:46), from 91-94 to 104-94. The Indiana Pacers' best was a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter (from 2:12 to 8.2 s), from 96-106 to 106-106.

What were the keys of the last New Orleans Pelicans vs Indiana Pacers game?

▸See where these figures come from

Play: Malcolm Brogdon makes 12-foot driving floating jump shot.

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

Malcolm Brogdon decided this game: his points put his team ahead with 3.6 seconds left in overtime 1, and the opponent never led again.

It is one of the 2 games he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Brogdon decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

4 January 2021 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401267260:741; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · IND

Brogdon · Oladipo · Holiday · McDermott · Sampson

Closing lineup · NOP

Ingram · Ball · Williamson · Bledsoe · Adams

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IND

Malcolm Brogdon

46′ · +9

Victor Oladipo

36′ · +8

Domantas Sabonis

35′ · -13

Myles Turner

23′ · -2

Aaron Holiday

20′ · -15

Justin Holiday

45′ · +11

Doug McDermott

29′ · +14

T.J. McConnell

24′ · -1

JaKarr Sampson

9′ · -1

NOP

Brandon Ingram

40′ · -6

Lonzo Ball

38′ · -2

Zion Williamson

35′ · +18

Eric Bledsoe

34′ · +1

Steven Adams

31′ · +3

JJ Redick

33′ · -2

Josh Hart

29′ · -9

Jaxson Hayes

14′ · -6

Nickeil Alexander-Walker

11′ · -4

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. IND and NOP.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Indiana Pacers

Sabonis, Brogdon, Holiday, McDermott, and McConnell played 9.8 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Sabonis, Brogdon, Holiday, Holiday, and Oladipo played 8.2 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Turner, Sabonis, Brogdon, Holiday, and Oladipo played 8.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 9 points.

New Orleans Pelicans

Ingram, Ball, Williamson, Bledsoe, and Adams played 13.8 minutes together.
Ingram, Ball, Williamson, Redick, and Adams played 7.4 minutes together.
Ingram, Ball, Hart, Redick, and Adams played 6.8 minutes together.

The plus-minus of each New Orleans Pelicans lineup is not shown: its rotation stints do not add up with each other.

▸See every lineup of the game

Indiana Pacers

Turner, Brogdon, Holiday, Oladipo, and McDermott played 7.7 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 12 points.
Brogdon, Holiday, Oladipo, Sampson, and McConnell played 4.0 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Sabonis, Holiday, McDermott, Sampson, and McConnell played 3.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Sabonis, Brogdon, Holiday, Oladipo, and McDermott played 2.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 8 points.
Turner, Brogdon, Holiday, Oladipo, and McConnell played 2.5 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 5 points.
Turner, Holiday, Holiday, McDermott, and McConnell played 1.7 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Turner, Sabonis, Brogdon, Holiday, and Oladipo played 1.6 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 8 points.
Sabonis, Holiday, Holiday, McDermott, and McConnell played 1.6 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Brogdon, Holiday, Oladipo, McDermott, and Sampson played 1.0 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.

New Orleans Pelicans

Hart, Williamson, Hayes, Redick, and Bledsoe played 5.5 minutes together.
Ingram, Hart, Hayes, Redick, and Bledsoe played 4.6 minutes together.
Hart, Williamson, Alexander-Walker, Redick, and Bledsoe played 4.5 minutes together.
Ball, Hart, Williamson, Alexander-Walker, and Bledsoe played 3.0 minutes together.
Ingram, Ball, Hayes, Alexander-Walker, and Redick played 2.2 minutes together.
Ingram, Ball, Hart, Bledsoe, and Adams played 2.1 minutes together.
Ingram, Ball, Hart, Hayes, and Redick played 1.6 minutes together.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

Justin Holiday covered 5.58 km, more than anyone in the game.

Malcolm Brogdon touched the ball 111 times, a game high.
Malcolm Brogdon made 87 passes, a game high.
Domantas Sabonis defended 16 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 10.
Zion Williamson had 21 rebound chances, a game high.

▸See what was measured for each player

Indiana Pacers

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Justin Holiday	5.58	7.0	51	40
Malcolm Brogdon	5.28	6.5	111	87
Victor Oladipo	4.44	7.0	52	28
Domantas Sabonis	3.99	6.5	101	79
Doug McDermott	3.72	7.2	33	19
T.J. McConnell	3.17	7.6	56	49
Myles Turner	2.82	7.1	34	22
Aaron Holiday	2.33	6.9	17	12
JaKarr Sampson	1.17	7.2	9	5

New Orleans Pelicans

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Brandon Ingram	4.92	6.9	82	45
Lonzo Ball	4.67	6.9	84	67
Zion Williamson	4.49	7.2	65	40
JJ Redick	4.23	7.2	31	21
Eric Bledsoe	3.94	6.5	60

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2020-21 regular season, not this game.

Indiana Pacers

T.J. McConnell deflected 3.6 passes per game over his 69 games.
He ranks 3 of 364 in the league.
Myles Turner contested 13.6 shots per game over his 47 games.
He ranks 4 of 364 in the league.
Victor Oladipo drew 0.36 charges per game over his 33 games.
He ranks 5 of 364 in the league.

New Orleans Pelicans

Zion Williamson recovered 1.1 loose balls per game over his 61 games.
He ranks 12 of 364 in the league.
JJ Redick drew 0.21 charges per game over his 38 games.
He ranks 23 of 364 in the league.
Steven Adams contested 9.3 shots per game over his 58 games.
He ranks 24 of 364 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The New Orleans Pelicans have won 11 of their 27 games against the Indiana Pacers.

11-16record of the New Orleans Pelicans · NBA 2013-14 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

1-1in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 2013-14 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Attendance

750

4.4% of capacity

Smoothie King Center · New Orleans

Scoring

234

combined points

9.8 above the season average (224.2)

⚖️ The last two minutes

Official NBA L2M report: every call in the endgame, reviewed by the league.

18 calls reviewed2 errors admitted by the NBA

Foul: Loose Ball · 00:50.4

JaKarr Sampson → Steven Adams

Sampson (IND) pulls Adams' (NOP) hand off ball during the rebound.

Foul: Shooting · 01:01.3

Myles Turner → Zion Williamson

Turner (IND) makes contact to Williamson's (NOP) arm/elbow during his shooting motion that disrupts his drive to the basket and shot attempt.