Giannis Antetokounmpo Took the Pacers Apart in Miami’s Cup Opener

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2026 — KASEYA CENTER, MIAMI

For one quarter on Friday night, the Indiana Pacers looked like the team that keeps ruining everybody’s bracket: 42 points, five made threes, a lead at Kaseya Center in the NBA Cup opener. Then the Miami Heat spent the next three quarters taking the game apart piece by piece — 145–125, behind a Giannis Antetokounmpo triple-double, a vintage Klay Thompson shooting night, and a flawless Pelle Larsson performance that quietly made a little personal history.

Indiana’s start was real. The Pacers shot 62% in the first quarter and led 42–36, the kind of opening that usually travels. What did not travel was the roster: Indiana dressed 11 players, only eight of them on standard contracts, with Tyrese Haliburton out with a strained hamstring and Obi Toppin out with a bad back. Miami’s answer was depth and force — a 22–7 run to close the second quarter for a 68–61 halftime lead, then a 10–0 burst to open the third that stretched it to 78–61 and effectively ended the argument. The middle two quarters finished 67–46, Miami.

Giannis ran the whole floor

Antetokounmpo finished with 31 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists in 31 minutes, shooting 13-of-19 and finishing plus-31 — his second triple-double of the young season. Miami won the paint 64–50 and the glass 47–37, and most of that damage started with him: Indiana had no matchup for his size in transition and no help scheme that survived his passing out of it. Bam Adebayo added 27 points and nine rebounds on 11-of-14 shooting, and Davion Mitchell ran the second unit’s pressure with 15 points and 11 assists at plus-32.

Klay’s best night in a Heat uniform

Thompson made seven 3-pointers and scored 25 points, 15 of them in the third quarter as Miami turned a game into a rout — his best scoring night since joining the Heat. With Indiana’s defense collapsing toward Antetokounmpo and Adebayo, the kick-outs kept finding the one shooter in league history you cannot leave to make a point. Indiana never recovered the thread: Quenton Jackson scored 24 and Andrew Nembhard 22 with nine assists for the Pacers, but the short-handed rotation simply ran out of answers and then out of legs.

Larsson didn’t miss

The night’s quiet line belongs to Larsson: 18 points on 5-for-5 shooting from the field, 7-of-8 at the line, three rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes. It is, per the Previously Stats Hub’s career scan, the first time in his 134 career games that Larsson has scored 15 or more without missing a shot from the field — the kind of perfect night that only registers if somebody goes looking for it. Somebody did.

Previously Staff’s read: Miami (2–4) banks its Cup opener in East Group B and its first home win of the season, and the shape of it matters more than the margin: when Antetokounmpo bends a defense, the Heat finally have the shooting around him to make teams pay for the bend. Indiana (2–4) drops its third straight and its group opener, and its season now runs on a medical report — until Haliburton is back, nights like the first quarter are auditions the Pacers cannot sustain for four.

Elsewhere Tonight

• Charlotte Hornets 79 at Washington Wizards 95 — Anthony Davis 25 PTS / 13 REB for Washington; Brandon Miller 19 for Charlotte.
• Chicago Bulls 111 at Boston Celtics 125 — Payton Pritchard 30 for Boston; Caleb Wilson 23 for Chicago.
• Detroit Pistons 110 at Brooklyn Nets 94 — Cade Cunningham 20 for Detroit; Moritz Wagner 16 for winless Brooklyn (0–5).
• New York Knicks 93 at Philadelphia 76ers 98 — Tyrese Maxey 27 for Philadelphia; Jalen Brunson 24 for New York.
• Orlando Magic 121 at Toronto Raptors 114 — Scottie Barnes scored 41 in a losing effort for Toronto; Desmond Bane 28 for Orlando.
• Houston Rockets 111 at Dallas Mavericks 116 — Irving 35, Flagg 33 — covered in full in tonight’s Rockets–Mavericks wrap.
• LA Clippers 101 at Minnesota Timberwolves 127 — LaMelo Ball 24, Jaden McDaniels 23 — covered in full in tonight’s Clippers–Timberwolves wrap.
• Los Angeles Lakers 95 at Golden State Warriors 112 — Curry 31, Dončić 37 — covered in full in tonight’s Lakers–Warriors wrap.
• Denver Nuggets 127 at Phoenix Suns 120 — Jamal Murray 39 for Denver; Miles Bridges 24 PTS / 10 REB for Phoenix.

Full box score, linescore and play-by-play: Indiana Pacers at Miami Heat — Game Center. More: NBA hub · NBA Cup hub · Stats Hub