(Indianapolis) — The Pacers closed out 2025 the hard way, letting a winnable game slip in the final seconds of a 112–110 loss to the Orlando Magic on Wednesday afternoon at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Paolo Banchero spun past Aaron Nesmith and scored with 7.5 seconds left, lifting Orlando and sending Indiana to its 10th straight defeat. Nesmith had a clean look to steal it at the horn, but his deep three from the top of the arc rattled out.
Indiana was tied at 110 after Bennedict Mathurin calmly knocked down his 12th and 13th free throws with 29.1 seconds remaining, moments after Pascal Siakam erased a potential go-ahead basket by blocking Desmond Bane at the rim. But the Magic answered out of the timeout, and the Pacers couldn’t convert their final chance.
Banchero finished with a game-high 29 points and 10 rebounds. Bane added 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists, while Anthony Black scored 15 and former Pacer Goga Bitadze chipped in 14 points and nine boards off the bench. Jalen Suggs and Jamal Cain each scored 11.
Siakam led Indiana with 26 points, marking his 15th game this season with at least 25. Mathurin followed with 23 points and was a perfect 13-for-13 at the free-throw line. Andrew Nembhard added 19 points and seven assists. Ben Sheppard rounded out the double-figure scorers with 12, all in the first half, in his return after missing time with a calf strain.
The Pacers overcame a sluggish opening — Orlando jumped out to a 15–6 lead — and briefly seized control with a strong third quarter. Nembhard and Siakam combined to spark a 22–10 run that produced the first double-digit lead of the game, but Orlando clawed back and stayed within a point entering the fourth.
Neither team found much rhythm late. Indiana managed just 15 points in the final quarter, while Orlando scored 18, doing most of its damage inside. The Magic dominated the paint 70–38 and won the rebounding battle despite hitting just three of 21 shots from three-point range.
Indiana forced 19 turnovers and outscored Orlando by 27 points from beyond the arc, but the Pacers couldn’t cash in when it mattered most. The loss dropped Indiana to 6–28, tying the fifth-longest losing streak in franchise history and leaving head coach Rick Carlisle one win shy of 1,000 for his career heading into the new year.
Up next: Indiana stays home Friday night to host Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. That game can be heard on 103.9 FM and The WRBI App.