Nets beat Pacers 98-90 as Porter Jr., Randle and Sharpe lead the way

Brooklyn beat Indiana 98-90 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, in front of 17,274 spectators, on Sunday 1 November 2026 in the United States. Michael Porter Jr. led the Nets with 23 points and 9 rebounds. Julius Randle added 20 points and 6 assists, Day'Ron Sharpe 15 points and 13 rebounds. Brooklyn pulled clear mainly in the third quarter, which they won 28-22, before holding a big enough lead through the final twelve minutes.

Before the game, the latest injury report listed the following Indiana players as out: Tyrese Haliburton, T.J. McConnell, Johnny Furphy, Ben Sheppard and Ivica Zubac. For Brooklyn, Tyler Bilodeau and Egor Demin were listed as out. Mikel Brown Jr. (Brooklyn) was listed as resting for load management and to spare his back before the next game against the Knicks. Tip-off was scheduled for 23:00 Brazzaville time.

A tight start

Nothing separated the two sides for twelve minutes: Brooklyn finished the first quarter ahead, 20-19. The Nets kept a slim lead until half-time, 43-40. The Pacers never led by more than one point in this game.

Third quarter turns the night

Coming out of the locker room, the Nets reeled off an 11-0 run that stretched the lead to 12 points, 52-40, with 8 min 42 left in the third quarter. Indiana cut it to four, 60-56, then Brooklyn answered with an 8-0 run to restore a 12-point margin, 68-56, with 3 min 07 left in the period. The Nets finished the quarter at 71-62, winning it 28-22.

The Pacers got back to 75-72 early in the fourth quarter but never drew level. The final period narrowed the gap without overturning the night: 84-76 with 6 min 24 left, then 98-90. Indiana scored 28 points in the last twelve minutes to Brooklyn's 27, its best quarter of the night. The Pacers made up only one point of their deficit between the end of the third quarter and the final buzzer.

Players of the match

For the Nets, Michael Porter Jr. grabbed 9 rebounds on top of his 23 points, in 36 minutes, with 4 turnovers. Julius Randle finished at +17 in 37 minutes, making 4 of 9 three-pointers and 6 of 6 free throws. Day'Ron Sharpe, +13 in 26 minutes, took 13 rebounds and made 5 of 7 shots. Nolan Traore added 16 points and 6 assists, hitting 4 of 8 from three. Moritz Wagner, off the bench, scored 14 points in 21 minutes.

For the Pacers, Andrew Nembhard scored 23 points in 35 minutes, going 4 of 10 from three and 5 of 6 from the line. He handed out 4 assists but turned the ball over 3 times. Cameroon's Pascal Siakam finished with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in 36 minutes. At +4, he is the only Pacers player mentioned in this report to finish in positive territory. Quenton Jackson scored 12 points, including 3 of 4 from three, in 24 minutes.

Aaron Nesmith finished with 11 points on 3 of 8 shooting, including 0 of 4 from three, 3 turnovers and a differential of -15 in 30 minutes. For the Nets, Noah Clowney finished at -7, with 8 points and none of his 4 three-point attempts made.

Three takeaways

A twelve-point cushion that counted. Brooklyn reached its 12-point lead twice in the third quarter, after an 11-0 run then an 8-0 run. At the end of the period, the Nets still led by 9 points, 71-62.

Rebounds and free throws weighed heavily. The Nets took 43 rebounds to 37 and made 25 of 31 free throws, against 21 of 30 for Indiana. Both teams made 13 three-pointers and dished out 21 assists each. Brooklyn nevertheless turned the ball over more, 18 times to 15. Those turnovers cost the Nets 17 points, against 11 for the Pacers. In the paint, Brooklyn scored 30 points, Indiana 26.

Indiana had the shooting, not the lead. The Pacers shot 13 of 35 from three, against 13 of 39 for the Nets, and finished 28 of 70 from the field, against 30 of 73. The accuracy was close. They lacked rebounds and free throws, and chased the score after reaching the break three points behind.

The SNA view

Brooklyn's box score shows a win built over the whole game. Randle finished at +17 despite making 5 of 15 shots, with perfect free-throw shooting, 6 assists and 2 steals. Sharpe added 13 rebounds in 26 minutes, a volume that weighs on the team's 6-rebound gap. Indiana, for their part, lost the game on three lines: rebounds, free throws and a third quarter of 22 points scored, against 28 for Brooklyn. Nesmith's -15, as a starter for 30 minutes, contrasts with Siakam's +4. With five Indiana players listed as out on the latest injury report, the Pacers had little margin to absorb that hole.

What's next

Brooklyn, 13th in the Eastern Conference with a 1-5 record as of 2 November, travel to the Knicks on 3 November at 1:30 Brazzaville time. Indiana, 12th in the Eastern Conference with a 2-5 record, host the Atlanta Hawks at the same time. Obi Toppin (Indiana), who had missed a second straight game with a lower-back injury, was listed with a possible return as early as Monday.