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Fans Boo Pacers for Refusing to Run Up Score Even More on Wizards in 53-Point Rout

The Pacers decided they'd scored enough.

Kyle Koster

Indiana Pacers guard Quenton Jackson (29) passes during the second half against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena.
Indiana Pacers guard Quenton Jackson (29) passes during the second half against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena. / Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images
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The Indiana Pacers demolished the Washington Wizards on Thursday night, scoring the most points by a team since 2008 in the 162-109 laugher. And it could have been worse had the visitors not eventually took some mercy on their hosts in the final minute by slowing the pace and melting some clock.

It was a classy move that was very much not appreciated by the fans in our nation's capital, who responded by mustering the energy to boo the pace. The sound combined with an eye-boggling scorebug created quite a moment.

Now, there are two ways to look at this. The first is that these were Wizards fans who long ago grew resigned to their fate and just wanted to see the numbers go up. The second is that there were probably a good amount of Pacers fans in the building because their season is going much better than Washington's and they just wanted to rub salt in the wound.

The important thing here is that no one got mad about an unwritten rule and things did not turn testy. If that bummed the fans out a bit, then so be it.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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