Tuesday night’s Pacers-Hawks game was anything but a ho-hum NBA regular season game in November.
The teams made history with a 252.5 point total, the highest NBA over/under since at least 1995, according to Action Network’s Evan Abrams, and proceeded to blow the number out of the water, going over the total with more than eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
The Pacers and Hawks combined for 309 points, with Indiana coming out on top 157-152 in what was easily the highest-scoring game of the season.
It was just the 12th regulation game in NBA history in which the teams combined for 300 or more points.
By halftime, the teams had 159 total points — all but ensuring the over would hit.
The previous over/under record had been 250.5 points, according to Abrams, set twice in 2020, when a Rockets-Timberwolves and Rockets-Pelicans game both settled at that number.
The pair came into the game as two of the best offenses in basketball.
Led by star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers had the best offensive rating in the NBA (120.7) heading into Tuesday’s action.
The Hawks weren’t far behind at 117.0, the sixth-best rate in the league.
They’re both also among the fastest teams at getting up-and-down the court, ranking No. 1 and No. 3, respectively in pace.
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On the other side of the ball, neither team is getting many stops.
The Pacers’ 123.8 points allowed per game were the third-most in the NBA, while the Hawks’ 117.9 were the seventh-most.
Unsurprisingly, the teams had been hitting the over at an incredible rate coming into the contest.
Indiana was 11-1-0 to the over before the game this season, easily the highest rate in the league.
Atlanta had hit the over in eight of its12 games.
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