Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard, the Indiana Pacers first-round picks in 2023, have mostly been out of the rotation to start the season. Today, they were assigned to the Indiana Mad Ants in the G-League to get some needed experience and playing time and both performed well.
The Mad Ants won by a final score of 117-107 behind Walker’s 30 points and Oscar Tshiebwe’s franchise record-setting 28 rebounds. Tshiebwe also added 20 points and it’s his third 20/20 game out of his four in the G-League so far.
Tshiebwe got a strong review from Tyrese Haliburton:
Hard to argue with that as any time a rebound was near his vicinity it was his strong hands coming away with the ball.
Walker scored 24 of his 30 points in the second half and did most of his damage on drives to the basket, finishing with either hand, utilizing his floater, and making plays in transition.
He made 12 of his 16 2-point shots including some tough mid-range makes but went 0 for 7 on his 3-pointer as he continues to drift back and left on every jumper.
Ben Sheppard played only the first half and scored 12 points all in the second quarter. He got some reps running an offense as a point guard and was really finding a rhythm in that second quarter. He had three assists including a pair of nice dump-offs inside for easy baskets.
Isaiah Wong added 18 points on 20 shot attempts. Kendall Brown scored 11 points (4 of 10) and was a team high +21 in the win.
You can watch the game in its entirety below.
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