The Indiana Pacers finished Group Play in the NBA In-Season Tournament at 4-0 after a 136-113 victory over the Detroit Pistons. The win guaranteed the Pacers a home game in the first-round of the Knockout Round though their opponent will not be known until after the final Group Play Night on Tuesday.
“It’s obviously not the playoffs, but they’re playoff feel, playoff-like games,” Myles Turner said. “Us getting this experience early, being such a young group, is so important. Being battle-tested early so you’re ready for that type of physicality and that type of style of play near the end of the year. It’s big time.”
The game was much closer than the scoreboard makes it appear. With 8:49 left, the Pistons, who have now lost 12 straight games, were actually in the lead at 106-104, the Pacers behind some self-described angry play from Bruce Brown and Myles Turner finished the game on a 32-7 run. In what was probably the best Pacers defensive quarter of the season, they were even able to wait to bring Tyrese Haliburton in until only three minutes were remaining.
Over the last 5:18 of the fourth quarter, the Pacers outscored the Pistons 19-1.
Pacers fell behind 21-16 with some inability to gather rebounds over Isaiah Stewart, going bigger with playing two of Turner, Jalen Smith, and Isaiah Jackson. It worked as the Pistons hit a 3 early in Jackson’s minutes but they scored just 2 points in the final 4:47 of the first quarter. The Pacers were bad in the second quarter as they gave up 37 points and trailed by two at halftime and let the Pistons hang around all night until finally breaking it open in the fourth.
Player Grades:
Myles Turner: A
Turner looked like he was in for a big game immediately from the tip as he scored the Pacers first 9 points of the game until foul trouble kept him on the bench for large chunks of the first three quarters.
“I was mad, bro, I was pissed,” Turner said of how he felt before the fourth quarter. “Just sitting out the whole game and seeing positions where I could help, once I got out there I just told myself to go, just unleash.”
In the fourth quarter, Turner had 10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, and assisted two 3-pointers. It was a dominant performance to close out the Pistons.
Four of his rebounds were on the offensive glass and three resulted in immediate buckets from Turner and the fourth one from Andrew Nembhard. His contributions on the glass came after he had zero rebounds in the first half.
“We knew that’s how we were going to win the game,” Turner said of turning things around on the glass. “… Rebounding is really just a pride thing, seeing myself at 0 rebounds in the first half I took it personal to make sure I was there for my team. That’s what they need from me.”
“He pushed me out of the way for one,” Bruce Brown jokingly interjected after the game.”
Turner finished with a total of 23 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks, 2 assists, and a steal.
Isaiah Jackson: A
Two plays really stand out defensively for Jackson in this game in which he was very impressive against his hometown team with 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks. In the first quarter, he took a bump from Jalen Duren and blocked the following shot with force.
Then, in the second half, he took a bump again, this time from Cade Cunningham, and then dealt with three pump fakes by using his quick jumping abilities to jump up and down three times before Cunningham finally went up for a shot and was blocked. On the ensuing offensive possession he snagged one of his four offensive rebounds and converted a putback on a Haliburton missed layup.
It took Jackson eight minutes before getting his first foul, important for a player that’s always struggled with fouling too much. He had a couple of really nice passes as well in this game one on a give-and-go play to Bennedict Mathurin that was perfectly placed and another in the final seconds of the third quarter where he gathered an offensive rebound and quickly found an open Jalen Smith at the basket. It was so good that it seemed to surprise Stix who missed the bunny at the rim and could only laugh at himself.
Andrew Nembhard: A
The Pacers missed Nembhard’s perimeter defense in the last two games and it really showed in the fourth quarter when he had numerous defensive plays against Cunningham.
Those highlights should be all the evidence needed for the grade. He added 13 points (6 of 13) with 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and a steal. His defense was essential during that 4th-quarter explosion that made the game a blowout.
Bruce Brown: A
The other half of the tremendous effort against Cunningham in the fourth quarter was Brown. Before halftime, Rick Carlisle said he spoke with Brown about the Pacers needing him to find a way to get it done in that matchup.
“I told him that’s why we brought him to Indiana,” Carlisle said.
Brown was up for the challenge. He echoed Turner in saying he was playing angry in the second half while his shot wasn’t falling (3 for 10), he was contributing everywhere else with 10 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals. You could see the anger in a ferocious dunk in transition that really ignited the crowd and sparked the huge run that capped the win.
Bennedict Mathurin: A
Mathurin was the other constant in the Pacers lineup during the huge run and finished a team-high +27 in this one. He was efficient from the floor offensively with 15 points (6 of 12) and Carlisle highlighted his strong defensive performance as why he played so much in the fourth quarter. At one point, he ripped the ball away from Jaden Ivey above the break and was off to the races in transition. He missed the layup but Turner was there to slam the miss home.
He always seems ready for these matchups with Ivey, who went one spot ahead of him in the draft. He hit a tough mid-range pull-up late in the shot clock in the third quarter.
Tyrese Haliburton: B-
26 points and 10 assists just feels like a meh game from Haliburton which is insane. Playing with a sprained wrist, he wasn’t shying away from his shot but it didn’t seem to affect him as he made just 9 of 23 attempts. Much less efficient than what we’ve seen all season from the Point God. The Pacers didn’t even bring him into the fourth quarter until 3 minutes were remaining because of how well that group was playing. He finished off the big run with a 3-pointer and a dunk where he raced through an uncontested lane after blowing by Cunningham.
He did have the play of the night when he dropped Pistons rookie Ausar Thompson as he fell and slid from the 3-point line nearly all the way under the basket. Haliburton took in the moment before drilling the wide open 3-pointer, then skipped back down the other end of the floor in what is becoming his trademark celebration.
The Pacers shared a fantastic image of the play with Ausar on the ground in the foreground with Haliburton shooting from deep.
Quick Hits
- Obi Toppin – B – Topping was efficient (6 of 8) with his 15 points. He hit 3 triples and was a part of the lineup that blew the game wide open. The Pacers struggled to rebound through much of the game with the Pistons’ bigger lineup while Toppin was on the floor.
- Buddy Hield – B – Hield did exactly what he’s supposed to do: make buckets. He scored 18 points on 6 of 12 shooting and added four rebounds. He didn’t contribute much else tonight and the Pacers were outscored by 7 in his minutes.
- Jalen Smith – B – Stix hit both of his 3-point attempts and is now shooting 68.4% from deep this season on 1.5 attempts per game. He and Jackson played well together and him being able to play the four in spots gave the Pacers another option to use with Nesmith currently out with an injured wrist. He finished with 8 points, 6 rebounds, and a steal.
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