The Indiana Pacers made an incomprehensible 77% of their field goal attempts while scoring 119 points in the final three quarters and beat the Miami Heat by a final score of 144-129.
The Pacers offensive explosion came without Tyrese Haliburton, who missed the game with a respiratory illness. After struggling in the first quarter to find a rhythm with the starters making just 2 of 15 shots in the opening 12 minutes, the Pacers would only miss 14 shot attempts over the remainder of the game.
Despite a solid effort defensively to begin the game, it looked like the Pacers were lost offensively and doomed to a third straight loss. Instead, the bench brought life into the team behind TJ McConnell, Bennedict Mathurin, Aaron Nesmith, and Isaiah Jackson who made a combined 18 of 24 shots in the first half. In the second half, everyone got into the act.
The Heat were without their defensive anchor in Bam Adebayo and the Pacers took full advantage after being unable to do so in the second half of their previous game in Miami on Thursday. The Pacers did a much better job of defending without fouling as the Heat took 21 less free throw attempts and Jimmy Butler took just 3 through the first three quarters and 9 total.
Let’s dive into some terrific performances with some grades:
Obi Toppin: A+
Toppin had a fantastic game on both ends of the floor. Don’t be fooled by Jimmy Butler’s final line. Toppin was awesome against him all game, didn’t bite on his pump fakes or give up many fouls on Butler’s many attempts to flop the momentum back to the Heat by getting to the foul line. Butler made just 4 of 11 attempts with Toppin as the primary defender.
He blocked Butler on two of his drives to the basket and had a career-high 4 blocks overall. He got a steal on a post-entry pass late in the fourth with Miami trying to make a late push. He challenged a Butler 3 and then beat him down the floor for an and-1 leak out while playing through a sprained ankle in the fourth.
“Obi’s effort on him and other guys that he guarded was terrific,” Rick Carlisle said after the game, who said they wanted to try to put more length on Butler and commended Toppin’s discipline while defending him.
Offensively, Toppin made 7 of his 8 shot attempts and scored 22 points. He had multiple timely 3-point makes in the second half to extend the Pacers lead and stymy Heat runs.
T.J. McConnell: A+
McConnell had his best game of the season as he made 10 of 11 shots on his way to 20 points and added 11 assists in 25 minutes. It was his usual array of tough fading middies just inside the paint or along the baseline plus layups where he outran the defense to the rim.
“From the very start of the game, he had a major impact,” Carlisle said. “Impact defensively, impact scoring the ball, impact creating pace … you have to give him a lot of credit. The level of conditioning needed to play the minutes that he played considering that he hasn’t been playing much in the games shows you his level of professional approach and keeping himself ready by doing all the work.”
Carlisle also highlighted his basket at the end of the half that tied the game up and allowed the Pacers to keep some momentum. Brown had the best reaction to McConnell’s performance.
“He hit a middy over Jimmy and I was like ‘How the f— did he do that?’” Brown said.
The Heat went to a zone briefly but McConnell busted it with a Pacers pet play where they set screens on both of the defenders at the top of the zone and allow McConnell to drive through the middle to get into the paint.
Bruce Brown: A+
Brown said he focused on being more aggressive than he was the first game without Haliburton when he scored just 2 points against the Celtics, calling it unacceptable.
In this game, he scored 30 points, just one point shy of his career high. He was crucial to a run late in the first half where the Pacers were down 7 with under three minutes left and tied it up that swung the momentum in the Pacers favor.
The aggression showed with some tough takes to the basket including one where he took advantage of his man being on the ground to race down the floor, get a mismatch with Kevin Love, and draw the and-1 foul. After the foul, Brown laid on the ground with a blank stare for a brief moment like he was playing dead.
He finished the game 11 for 16 and made 4 of 6 shots from deep. In the first half, he was the only starter that was making many shots as he went 4 for 6 and the rest of the starters went 4 for 17. He was a team-high +20.
Aaron Nesmith: A
Nesmith was another member of the bench that barely missed any shots. He went 7 for 9 with 20 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and an impressive block where he looked like Myles Turner cleaning up at the rim after he switched onto the big.
He went 4 of 6 on 3-pointers and had the classic highlight of causing his defender to fall over (with the help of stepping on his foot) and then drilling the open 3-pointer.
Myles Turner: B+
Turner got outplayed by Orlando Robinson in the first half as the Heat center caused issues for him multiple times in the second quarter on the glass and beat him off the dribble for a bucket as well. Turner recovered in the second half and finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks. He made 7 of 8 shots from 2 and finally got a 3-pointer to go down in the 4th quarter after missing his first 7 over these two games in Miami. His block on a Caleb Martin dunk attempt was one of his best and resulted in a Buddy Hield 3 during the Pacers run to start the third quarter that gave them a decent lead.
Turner was also key in beating the Heat zone to start the fourth as he found holes in the middle of the defense multiple times before they went away from it.
Bennedict Mathurin: A-
The Pacers needed an aggressive Mathurin in this one and he delivered. With the offense sputtering, he was a big part of the bench group that started to find some rhythm without their star. He took 3s decisively off the catch and drove to the basket with force on his way to 16 points (6 of 10).
He also added 5 rebounds and 4 assists. He had four turnovers but made a few really nice passes including a tough one-handed pass to find Nesmith in the corner after he got into the paint and drew multiple bodies. His minutes were limited not because of defensive lapses but due to foul trouble in this one including a bad charge call where Mathurin hit the side of a Heat defender and should have been rewarded with a call in his favor.
Quick hits:
Andrew Nembhard: B-
Nembhard couldn’t make anything as he went just 1 for 9 but he did everything else well in this game. He had 11 assists and zero turnovers, was part of the runs to end the first half and start the third quarter that turned the game around, and played well defensively while avoiding fouls. He had just one after fouling out on Thursday.
Buddy Hield: C
Hield still struggled to find his outside shot but he didn’t shoot the Pacers out of this game as he took only 7 shots total and scored 7 points. His grade is lower than the rest mostly due to a second quarter stretch where he was beat by Duncan Robinson off the dribble multiple times as he hit short-range attempts in the paint. Hield also added 2 steals and 2 assists in his 24 minutes.
Isaiah Jackson: B+
Jackson played 8 minutes and made all 3 of his shots. The Pacers elected to play small with Toppin at the 5 and Nesmith guarding the 5 often in this game which limited his minutes but Jackson played well in his time, had some strong finishes at the rim and looked to be recovered from his illness which is hopefully a good sign for Haliburton being ready to go on Monday.
Ben Sheppard: INC
Sheppard played 3 minutes in the first half and committed 2 fouls with no other stats. I’m not sure he touched the ball during his time on the court. I guess you could give him a C for cardio.
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