Haliburton’s huge third quarter helps push Pacers past Spurs in Paris

Tyrese Haliburton scored a game-high 28 points and took over in the pivotal final five minutes of the third quarter as the Indiana Pacers handled the San Antonio Spurs 136-98 on Saturday afternoon to split the NBA Paris Games series.San Antonio captured the first game of the set 140-110 on Thursday but had no answer for the Pacers in the finale. Indiana led by 15 points at halftime and by 12 after three. Haliburton scored 16 points in a decisive 19-6 run to end the period.The Pacers poured it on in the fourth quarter, leading by as many as 38 points while waltzing to the finish line.Pascal Siakam added 23 points and 11 rebounds for Indiana, which won for the third time in its past four contests. Andrew Nembhard had 15 points, Myles Turner scored 14, Bennedict Mathurin hit for 13, T.J. McConnell 12 and Thomas Bryant 10.Harrison Barnes led San Antonio with 25 points while Victor Wembanyama, a Paris native, added 20 points and 12 rebounds. Stephon Castle scored 17 points and Chris Paul tallied 11. The Spurs have dropped four of their past five games.The Pacers dominated the first quarter before settling for a 33-24 advantage after 12 minutes of play.