The Indiana Pacers took everything the Philadelphia 76ers had to throw at them in their toughest test of Group Play in the NBA In-Season Tournament to win by a final score of 132-126.
“When we (went) back and watched the film, we preached for the last two days just playing our style of basketball, our brand,” Tyrese Haliburton, who had 33 points, 15 assists, and zero turnovers. “They don’t want to play the way we play, getting up and down and flying up the floor. If we get stops and don’t foul, they’re forced to play our way. And if we’re making shots, then they’re really forced to play our way. We were able to do that tonight.”
In the first half, the Pacers were running out of options to put up against Joel Embiid, who plays basketball like the objective of the game is to hear a whistle rather than to put the ball through the basket. Myles Turner had 3 fouls in 7 minutes. Jalen Smith had 2 fouls in 3 minutes and then had to go to the hospital to get evaluated for a head injury. Isaiah Jackson committed his fourth foul of the game with 5:59 remaining in the first half. Daniel Theis was out for the game for personal reasons. So who did the Pacers turn to in order to guard the reigning MVP?
6’5” Aaron Nesmith.
And the Pacers took on this challenge by playing perhaps their best defense of the entire season. Nesmith entered the game with 5:16 left after Carlisle thought better of leaving Turner in the game with three fouls and the Pacers up only 3 points. The 76ers would make just 1 of 9 shots over this stretch and Indiana went into halftime with a 9-point lead.
Carlisle compared Nesmith’s task against Embiid to being in a WWE ring. He did everything he could to make passes inside difficult with the help of teammates making the paint crowded. They scrambled and scrapped and unlike in the previous matchup against the Sixers, they managed to rebound the ball.
The Pacers gave up 23 offensive rebounds on Sunday and were out-rebounded by 22 overall. Tonight, they only allowed 5 offensive rebounds all game and won the rebounding battle by 3.
After the game, Carlisle said they did make adjustments on the glass but that the biggest adjustment was disposition. After a “coach’s worst nightmare” in practice on Monday doing rebounding drills that looked like injuries may be happening every few minutes, Indiana did what they were unable to in the first matchup.
“Very proud of the guys and how they were able to adjust from game one to game two of this series. The rebounding was a preposterous difference in the first game,” Carlisle said. “Tonight they only had five offensive rebounds. Our guys made a great adjustment there, were very persistent, and just pursued. That was huge.”
While the Pacers made a series of successful adjustments that added to the playoff feel of the In-Season Tournament, the 76ers were unable to figure out how to stop Tyrese Haliburton, who had 58 points, 32 assists, and zero turnovers in the two games combined. In the first half of this one, Haliburton went 6 of 8 from deep and scored 20 points.
Indiana struggled a bit in the third quarter as they led by just one entering the fourth. Myles Turner, whose game couldn’t have gone much worse to this point, came up huge for the Pacers in the fourth quarter. After he had only been able to stay on the court for 8 total minutes because of fouls in the first three quarters with 2 points, Turner scored 15 in the final 12 minutes of the game as he drew multiple fouls inside and hit a huge 3-pointer late that pushed the Pacers lead.
The win puts the Pacers in the lead in East Group A at 2-0 with two games remaining. They play the Hawks and the Pistons with a clear shot at the Knockout Rounds if they can win both of those games.
To the grades!
Tyrese Haliburton: A+
Haliburton is accomplishing statistical feats that have never been done before while playing in the highest stakes game of his career to this point against one of the best teams in the league.
At this point, he should be an early-season MVP candidate. 33 points (11 of 18), 15 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, a block, and zero turnovers. He was a team high +19 in his 38 minutes. A second consecutive flawless performance.
Obi Toppin: A+
This might be the best game of Toppin’s NBA career. 27 points (12 of 15), 6 rebounds, 1 assist, and a block. He finished multiple tough, athletic layups on timely cuts throughout the game. This was perhaps the first time we’ve seen Carlisle close the game with Toppin and he 100% earned it with great play on both ends of the floor.
“He had a good feel for the game from the beginning,” Carlisle said of Toppin. “His running ability is a big part of who we are right now. It just seemed like in the second half when we would be reeling a little bit, somehow he’d find a way. There was a lob pass for the dunk, there was one or two cuts under the basket for difficult finishes. … He just kept coming. That’s the kind of team we’ve got to be.”
Myles Turner: B+
Turner was having perhaps the worst time of anyone at the arena for the first 36 minutes of the game as Embiid did his foul merchant thing to him for about four of his six fouls on the game but the Pacers don’t win this game without Turner burning the Sixers defense on repeat in the 4th. Clearly off rhythm, Haliburton kept feeding Turner the ball inside as he slowly found his form after getting fouled on multiple attempts. Eventually getting an and-1 bucket to go down and a reverse layup past Embiid. All capped by a 3-pointer that he was hesitant to take initially until Haliburton threw the ball right back to him after he passed up the shot initially.
Isaiah Jackson: A-
Jackson had one of his best stretches in his NBA career in the third quarter as he avoided getting into further foul trouble and made many plays on the offensive glass. Jackson, who seemed to be fighting through fatigue in the third after not playing much to start the year, finished with 7 points and 9 rebounds and had as many offensive rebounds (5) as the entire Sixers team did combined in this game. Embiid is a tough matchup for a slender big like IJax but he made him work with his speed and energy.
Bruce Brown: A
Brown scored 14 points including four clutch free throws in the final minute, made multiple timely drives to the rim when the Pacers desperately needed a basket, and played great defense on the other end. Brown wasn’t given any favors in the first matchup against Tyrese Maxey as he scored 50 with the Pacers not providing much of any help from off-ball defenders as they stayed attached to their matchups. In this game, the Pacers made Maxey a bit more uncomfortable with multiple bodies much closer to him as he sped towards the paint. This helped Brown contest multiple floaters as he was the primary defender for much of the night as Maxey went just 9 for 23.
T.J. McConnell: A
McConnell came in as the first guard off the bench in the first quarter of this one and played well. He finished with 11 points (5 of 8), 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. He hit his mid-range baseline fadeaway, and he helped push the pace when Haliburton was out of the game. One of his only flaws in this one was how uncomfortable he looked shooting a pair of 3-pointers. Something that while awkward in form last season, he was taking with confidence.
Aaron Nesmith: B+
Beyond the high energy defending of Embiid in the second quarter that likely saved the game for the Pacers, this wasn’t the best offensive performance for Nesmith. He made just 2 of 8 shot attempts and missed some key 3-pointers in the second half. He finished with 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. Still, the defensive effort in the first half was so good, he deserves praise and a high grade.
Buddy Hield: D
Hield finished this game for the Pacers as Carlisle trusted the veteran shooting guard over younger options like Andrew Nembhard and Bennedict Mathurin but it was a rough outing for Hield. He had 5 turnovers with multiple off-target passes among those and made just 1 of 5 shot attempts. Maybe I’m missing something about his defensive performance in this one that I’ll be looking for on a rewatch but it didn’t feel like he earned the closing minutes.
Andrew Nembhard: B
Nembhard only played 10 minutes but played well. He chipped in 4 assists with no turnovers and had a bucket inside from his favorite spot just inside the foul line. He had a really nice steal to get in front of Embiid who had deep position on him that likely saved either a foul or a bucket.
Bennedict Mathurin: C+
Mathurin also didn’t play a ton in this game with 8 points in 16 minutes. He did make a pair of 3-pointers. He got called for two travels where he ended his dribble a step too soon on euro step attempts in transition. No other statistics on the night. He did have one very good verticality contest at the rim that prevented a Maxey basket while avoiding a foul. Roy Hibbert would be proud.
Jalen Smith: INC
Stix hit both of his shots in the first quarter before Embiid decided he didn’t want to guard him and drew two quick fouls on him. He ended up getting sent to the hospital after a Morris twin forcefully put his body into Smith on a box out and hit him right under the chin. The play wasn’t even reviewed for a potential flagrant and Smith looked noticeably dazed almost immediately. Hopefully he gets well soon as he’s had a fantastic start to his fourth season.
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