Pacers sit best players, beat Nets behind Kam Jones, Jarace WalkerJoel A. Erickson, Indianapolis StarThu, February 12, 2026 at 3:42 AM UTC·5 min readThe Pacers refuse to live up to the public expectations of a team that has plenty of incentive to finish with one of the NBA’s worst records.
Even with most of their best players sitting on the bench on the second night of a back-to-back, Indiana overcame an ugly first quarter and roared back in the second half to beat the Nets 115-110, heading into the All-Star break with a New York sweep that lifts the Pacers out of the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIndiana (15-40) got off to an ugly 6-31 start to open the season, but Wednesday night’s clutch win in Brooklyn lifted the Pacers to 9-9 over their last 18 games as the team heads into the All-Star break.
Brooklyn (15-38) was working without a handful of its top players, too, including leading scorer Michael Porter Jr., but the Nets had won their last two games and jumped out to a 31-18 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 64-53 halftime lead.
Feb 11, 2026; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets center Day'ron Sharpe (20) is fouled by Indiana Pacers guard Kobe Brown (24) as he drives to the basket during the first quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Feb 11, 2026; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Nolan Traore (88) drives to the basket against Indiana Pacers guard Kobe Brown (24) during the first quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Feb 11, 2026; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Indiana Pacers center Jay Huff (32) blocks a shot by Brooklyn Nets guard Nolan Traore (88) during the first quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Feb 11, 2026; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (left to right) and guard T.J. McConnell (9) and forward Obi Toppin (1) watch from the bench during the second quarter against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Feb 11, 2026; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Indiana Pacers center Jay Huff (32) dunks against Brooklyn Nets forward Danny Wolf (2) and guard Ben Saraf (77) during the second quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Feb 11, 2026; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle talks to guard Kam Jones (7) during the first quarter against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Feb 11, 2026; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Danny Wolf (2) looks to shoot the ball against Indiana Pacers center Micah Potter (11) and guard Ethan Thompson (55) during the first quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images1 / 7Indiana Pacers vs. Brooklyn Nets photos in NBA action
Feb 11, 2026; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets center Day'ron Sharpe (20) is fouled by Indiana Pacers guard Kobe Brown (24) as he drives to the basket during the first quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images1 / 7Indiana Pacers vs. Brooklyn Nets photos in NBA action
Feb 11, 2026; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets center Day'ron Sharpe (20) is fouled by Indiana Pacers guard Kobe Brown (24) as he drives to the basket during the first quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images2 / 7Indiana Pacers vs. Brooklyn Nets photos in NBA action
Feb 11, 2026; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Nolan Traore (88) drives to the basket against Indiana Pacers guard Kobe Brown (24) during the first quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images3 / 7Indiana Pacers vs. Brooklyn Nets photos in NBA action
Feb 11, 2026; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Indiana Pacers center Jay Huff (32) blocks a shot by Brooklyn Nets guard Nolan Traore (88) during the first quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images4 / 7Indiana Pacers vs. Brooklyn Nets photos in NBA action
Feb 11, 2026; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (left to right) and guard T.J. McConnell (9) and forward Obi Toppin (1) watch from the bench during the second quarter against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images5 / 7Indiana Pacers vs. Brooklyn Nets photos in NBA action
Feb 11, 2026; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Indiana Pacers center Jay Huff (32) dunks against Brooklyn Nets forward Danny Wolf (2) and guard Ben Saraf (77) during the second quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images6 / 7Indiana Pacers vs. Brooklyn Nets photos in NBA action
Feb 11, 2026; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle talks to guard Kam Jones (7) during the first quarter against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images7 / 7Indiana Pacers vs. Brooklyn Nets photos in NBA action
Feb 11, 2026; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Danny Wolf (2) looks to shoot the ball against Indiana Pacers center Micah Potter (11) and guard Ethan Thompson (55) during the first quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn ImagesPacers rookie Kam Jones
The rookie guard nearly coughed up the game.
Working in the middle of the floor, Jones threw the ball away on an errant pass to his right with 1:05 left, then got stripped by Nets center Day’ron Sharpe at midcourt on the next Indiana possession, leading to a game-tying layup that threatened to allow Brooklyn to steal the game.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementUp until that point, it hadn’t been a great night for the Marquette product, who’d dished out six assists but also committed four turnovers and failed to hit any of his five attempts from 3-point range.
Jones refused to let an uneven performance affect him.
Finding himself with the ball in his hands at the top of the key at the end of the next possession, Jones drilled the go-ahead 3-pointer to give the Pacers their first lead of the game, 113-110 with just 17 seconds left, handing Indiana its second consecutive win.
A second-round draft pick, Jones hasn’t played a significant role for Indiana this season, averaging 2.6 points per game on 10.8 minutes, tough preparation for a player who had to play the point guard role with Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell out on Wednesday night.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhen it mattered, Jones found a way to bounce back from two crucial mistakes.
“He’s undaunted, he’s a confident kid,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said in his postgame comments. “He just plays, he always believes in himself, and he made the biggest shot of his life.”
Jarace Walker’s emergence continues
Walker’s ongoing development might be one of the key storylines to watch once the Pacers return from the All-Star break.
In mid-January, Carlisle noted that Walker was beginning to play with more force, and over the course of the last month, Walker’s confidence appears to be growing. Forced to sit out Tuesday night’s big win over the Knicks due to illness, Walker returned to the lineup as the team’s best offensive option on Wednesday night.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIndiana’s offense got off to a slow start.
But Walker has been consistent, scoring in double digits in each of the last nine games he played before Wednesday night, and he kept playing with force against Brooklyn, getting into the paint to get off his shot while adding five rebounds and three assists.
Walker finished with a team-high 23 points. Indiana is likely going to continue to deal with injuries the rest of the season, as general manager Chad Buchanan acknowledged in an in-game appearance on the broadcast on Wednesday, and that means Walker should get more chances after the All-Star break to develop into the kind of player who can play a significant role for the Pacers in the future.
Pacers news: GM Chad Buchanan on why Pacers traded for Ivica Zubac
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMicah Potter comes up big
From the sounds of it, Indiana will not have its trade deadline prize, Ivica Zubac, for a while due to the ankle injury that is lingering from his time with the Clippers.
Micah Potter provided the post presence for the Pacers down the stretch on Wednesday night, setting career highs with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Potter, who has carved out 7 points and 4 rebounds per game in 18 minutes off the bench, and he came up big in the fourth quarter. Working as the post-up player down low, Potter kept drawing fouls, getting to the line to score 10 points in the fourth quarter.
On a night when most of Indiana’s big names were on the bench, Potter wasn’t the only player who set career highs.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementTwo-way player Ethan Thompson scored a career-high 15 points, including 10 in the first half to keep Indiana within striking distance, and although Taelon Peter was inconsistent from 3-point range, he got hot in the middle of the game to finish with four 3-pointers and 14 points overall, catching fire enough to bring the Pacers back.
Play of the night
Quenton Jackson proved how electric he can be in Tuesday night’s big win over New York.
And while he didn’t take center stage against the Nets, Jackson did explode for the biggest play of the night in Indiana’s win.
Picking up a loose ball near the baseline, Jackson drove the length of the court, outrunning the larger Sharpe to take a one-on-one opportunity against Egor Demin at the basket. Accelerating, Jackson leaped up and slammed the ball hard over Demin’s block attempt, a huge dunk that immediately caught the attention of the rest of the NBA.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOne night after lifting the Pacers over the Knicks, Jackson finished with nine points, five assists and the kind of momentum-changing play that seemed to snap Indiana out of its offensive doldrums to start the game.
Dustin Dopirak covers the Pacers all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Pacers Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers vs Nets: No-name Indiana defeats Nets 115-110
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