What Has Guided Indiana Pacers Six-Game Winning Streak?

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers are streaking, currently holding the Eastern Conference’s longest run of consecutive wins. They are undefeated since the calendar flipped to 2025 with six victories in succession, including most recently beating the Cavaliers in Cleveland. They are just the second visiting team to win in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse this season.

It was a statement win for the Pacers, who have now defeated all of the top-four teams in the Eastern Conference during this campaign. They beat the defending champion Boston Celtics on the road just two weeks prior to their outing in Cleveland. Indiana is playing their best basketball of the season right now.

“Doing what you’re supposed to do, doing our job,” guard Andrew Nembhard said of how the Pacers are playing. “We just want to keep getting better every day and have fun playing together.”

On December 8, Indiana fell at home to the Charlotte Hornets. It was rock bottom for a group that has big goals for this season. They fell to 10-15 and knew that changes were needed.

Their defense was dreadful, which led to a meeting between star guard Tyrese Haliburton and a few coaches. The team couldn’t find any consistency. Some would have simply called an inconsistent roster that couldn’t stop anyone a bad team. But the Pacers knew they were better than that.

Since then, Indiana is 12-3. Only the Oklahoma City Thunder have more wins in that stretch. “I think just trusting each other, playing with more energy, and holding leads,” Pacers rookie wing Johnny Furphy said of his team’s improved play.

While just about everything has changed for the Pacers since their low point in early December — including some turns of fate for players and a needed trade — a few major factors stand out in the team’s turnaround.

The Pacers defense has reached a new peak

Indiana wasn’t defending well early in the season. Few expected them to be a good group on the less glamorous end of the floor, but they really struggled out of the gate. It was one of many factors that contributed to their slow start.

In mid-December, the blue and gold picked up their defensive level. It turned their season around as the Pacers earned big wins over quality opponents. But this month, things have been even better. Indiana is winning games on the back of their ability to get stops.

In 2025, Indiana ranks second in defensive rating — only the Thunder have been better. It’s one of the best stretches of defensive play the team has had in the last few seasons, and they’ve limited two top-1o offenses (Phoenix and Cleveland) as well as two decent other ones (Miami and Chicago) during that span.

“It’s been a commitment on everybody’s part. Defending is not easy in this league,” Pacers center Myles Turner said of his team’s improvements. “It takes committing… it takes a whole team to guard, not just one guy.”

Indiana’s opponent has scored under 100 points in three of the last four games. The Cavaliers scored 93, their lowest mark of the year by eight points. The Golden State Warriors scored their seventh-fewest, and the Brooklyn Nets their ninth-fewest. The Pacers are shutting teams down.

It’s reasonable to wonder how long the blue and gold can keep defending at this level. They’ve never shown a peak like this before. But across the league’s last month and a half, Indiana has been the 12th-best defense. That’s basically half the season that they’ve been above average on that end of the floor. If they can sustain a defensive rating that is nearly average, they should keep winning given their offensive firepower.

Tyrese Haliburton looks much better for the Pacers

Star guard Tyrese Haliburton was struggling for the Pacers early in the season. He ascended somewhat in late November, but he has really taken off in the last month or so, especially during the Pacers recent winning streak.

During the six wins, Haliburton is averaging 21 points, 9.8 assists, and 3.0 rebounds per game. That includes an outing during which he played just 19 minutes due to injury. Haliburton has been productive.

He’s been efficient, too. 52.5% of his shots have dropped during this stretch, including nearly 47% of his threes. His per-possession stability has been important — he has 59 assists compared to just 10 turnovers in the year 2025.

“Shoot more, ball go in more,” Haliburton said through a smile of his own and his team’s improvements. He had to find his joy in life and in basketball earlier in the season, and he’s playing like it now.

In that fateful loss to the Hornets last month, Haliburton had a forgettable outing with nine points and eight assists. Since then, he’s averaging 19 points and 9.5 assists per game on strong efficiency. He’s been at an All-Star level for over a month now.

He’s defending better, too. And the Pacers are still 3.3 points per 100 possessions better with Haliburton on the court than off this season. Despite his early struggles, he has recovered to reach a high impact.

“I think it starts with me as a point guard, just try to take care of the ball better. We’re doing a great job taking care of the ball,” Haliburton said of one of his improvements — the turnover department. He is taking off, and so is his team.

Andrew Nembhard’s return for the Pacers has been huge

Andrew Nembhard returned from an early-season knee injury on December 1, though he had a low minutes restriction at the time. On December 6, he played into the second half for the first time in a game after the injury. From that date until now, the Pacers are 13-4.

The aforementioned reasons play a big part in that record. So does Nembhard’s play and effectiveness. He’s been terrific for the blue and gold this year on both ends, and the team would not have recovered from their poor start without him.

The Pacers have a better offensive and defensive rating with Nembhard on the court than off. His net rating swing is currently among the highest in the league. He makes a starting lineup hum and can run units on his own. There’s a reason the Pacers were quick to extend his contract in the offseason.

He’s averaging 10.7 points and 4.8 assists per game. Traditional numbers sell him short. Indiana can trot out two point guard lineups with Nembhard on the floor, something they love to do, and he makes everyone connect.

“Early in the season, we were battling some injuries. Like every team, you’ve just gotta get through it.” Pacers center Enrique Freeman said of his team’s turnaround. Nembhard was one of those injury battles, and Indiana made it to the other side.

Ben Sheppard returned from injury last month, too, and the Pacers finally acquired a backup center via trade. Health has helped the team as much as anything, and Nembhard’s return specifically has been key to their turnaround. Nembhard is a part of the Pacers starting lineup, and that five-man unit that has been blasting teams by nearly 19 points per 100 possessions since the start of December.

Few teams in the NBA have been playing as well as the Indiana Pacers for the last month or so, and almost nobody has reached their level in the ongoing calendar year. They need to keep it up with the All-Star break and trade deadline coming within the month.