Paul George of the Clippers scored 45 points after losing to the Pacers.

Clippers defenseman John Wall sat in the corner of the locker room taped to his phone. Clippers had just lost in Philadelphia to start a five-game trip and the players were brewing for breakdowns.

But Wall, who watches basketball the most in the NBA, was glued to his phone, looking at a different game. To Marcus Morris Sr., Kawhi Leonard, and a few other players within earshot, he repeated the statistic that caught his eye: 43 points and seven assists, as well as 10 three-pointers. It belonged to Indiana point guard Tyrese Halliburton. To Wall, it sounded like All-Star numbers.

Eight days later, Halliburton scored six points in three quarters against the Clippers before burning them with 18 points in the fourth quarter, including 12 consecutive points in one stretch to tie Indiana’s record. 131-130 victory.

The loss ended a trip in which the Clippers, who provided one of the league’s best half-court defenses for most of the season, scored at least 113 points in every game. Coach Tyrone Liu called the defense inconsistent.

Until the late heroism of Halliburton, the game looked like a Paul George game with 45 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

Two days earlier, as he left Boston, George said he expected to hear applause in Indiana, where he went from being the 10th overall pick in the 2010 draft to a four-time All-Star before he wanted to leave in 2017 and got his wish. The trade brought in Indiana center Domantas Sabonis, who was in turn traded to Haliburton last season, a fundamental part of the rebuild that saw the Pacers beat expectations this season in wins and good spirits—but neither that nor the lack of almost six years. , dulled the edge of fan longing.

George stepped back with a 3-pointer on the first play and put his finger to his lips to the cheers as the brass band on the second level of the arena sang, “Paul George sucks.” When George cut through the traffic and dunked with one hand in the second quarter, the noise turned into a collective oh. And there was nothing after he and Leonard took turns in the second quarter trying to find weaknesses in Indiana’s defense in possession that ended with George taking a short shot as the shot clock ticked. In the second quarter, he scored 12 points.

Then third place belonged to Leonard, who had 17 points and three assists, leading to eight points. His last shot in the quarter was a 3-pointer, which he fell back on after seeing not the usual double team that Indiana had sent all night, but also a third quarterback. He finished with 24 points, seven assists and five rebounds.

Terence Mann, who played just five minutes with Boston the previous game, featured prominently in a series of smallball teams that Liu used for most of the quarter when starting center Ivica Zubac sat on the bench. The Clippers were one behind when it started, three minutes before the end of the third quarter, and led by one, 118-117, when Zubac returned from 3:47 to play in regulation time.

George stole a Pacers pass when the Clippers were up 120–118 with 2:43 to play, but threw the ball away. Halliburton made a three-pointer on his next possession, and the game finally tipped in Indiana’s favour.