The Indiana Pacers have enjoyed being the first team to do many things in the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament. First team to win a group play game, first team to clinch winning their group, and most recently the first team to book a trip to Las Vegas with their 122-112 hard fought victory over the Boston Celtics.
In a back-and-forth battle that may have had the best atmosphere ever for an NBA game in December, a lot of little moments can add up to make the difference between a win or a loss. Just like a postseason game, every possession feels important.
“It feels definitely like a playoff game. I’ve been juiced up for this game the last two days,” Aaron Nesmith told AllPacers prior to the game. “I think everybody in this locker room, every part of the organization is juiced up for this one.”
It showed on the court and in the stands as the fans were buzzing from the tip. Before we focus on the semi-finals matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday at 5 p.m. (weird choice NBA), let’s take a look at the mini runs, small moments, and major contributions that added up to a W. Grades will be sprinkled in throughout as players come up.
Three Mini-Runs That Changed the Game
#1
This is the best Pacers regular season moment ever, right? Tie game. 1:35 left. A 9-0 run in an elimination game, an energetic crowd reaching a new level of nirvana after every big moment. It was avalanche of pure joy that will be a favorite moment of Pacers fans for years.
The 4-point play for Tyrese Haliburton (A+) started it all, stamping his superstar reveal party that was nationally televised in the first TNT game in his career. The MVP chants followed for a player that deserves them, leaking beyond the free throw and into a baseline out-of-bounds play where he throws a more-difficult-than-it-seems pass to Buddy Hield for a 3-pointer. The Pacers get a steal on the following possession with Haliburton placing the perfect touchdown pass to a streaking Nesmith for the emphatic slam dunk that had the Pacers bench celebrating on the court after the Celtics called timeout. The rally towels were swinging. Voices were being lost.
#2
T.J. McConnell (B+) got the nod for the backup point guard minutes over Andrew Nembhard in this one after his impressive performance against the Miami Heat where he made 10 of his 11 shots and had 11 assists. In the first half, it didn’t pay off. The Celtics size seemed to be a tough matchup for the human spark plug as Indiana was outscored by 8 in his five first-half minutes.
Carlisle stuck with him when it came time to give Haliburton a breather at the end of the third quarter and everything came up McConnell for two straight minutes.
The Pacers went small with Obi Toppin at center as McConnell came in. Immediately, this was an issue as the Celtics got three consecutive offensive rebounds before Sam Hauser hit a 3 that cut the Pacers lead to one. Then the McConnell magic began.
First, he appeared stuck in the middle of the paint with Luke Kornet—who somehow looked like the best player on the floor at times—towering over him. McConnell turned into Luis Scola as he used textbook pivot fundamentals to dance just past Kornet’s reach.
He draws a moving screen on Kornet on the following Celtics possession and then finds Bennedict Mathurin in the corner for the open triple. After a Jrue Holiday missed 3-pointer, McConnell took an ill-advised mid-range jumper that Kornet smacked right out of his hands. But it fell right to Hield who immediately hit a 3-pointer to force a Celtics timeout.
Even the timeout wasn’t enough to completely stop the McConnell momentum as he stole a pass on the following possession for an easy fast break where he gave the ball up to Hield for a dunk.
#3
In what has become a weekly occurrence, Tyrese Haliburton completely took over after halftime after a so-so first half and a text from his trainer Drew Hanlen waiting for him on his phone.
Haliburton scored or assisted on 20 straight points for the Pacers to open up the second half and 24 of 27 in his 9 minutes of third quarter. This particular little 7-2 scoring burst finally cut into that Celtics lead permanently as they wouldn’t have a lead that was more than 4 points for the remainder of the game.
Obi Toppin (B+) had a perfectly timed cut and made himself available between two Celtics defenders in the paint. Haliburton hit one of his many ridiculous step-back 3-pointers and after a Derrick White turnover he piled it on White by finding Myles Turner in the paint with the Celtics guard switched onto him for a bucket.
Four Major Contributions
#1 Aaron Nesmith (A) gets his revenge.
Not enough can be said about how good Aaron Nesmith was when it mattered most in this game. Defensively, he was everything the Pacers needed him to be. He defended Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, making everything as tough as possible when they tried to attack him in the mid-range.
He rotated over as a help defender from the weak side to take a huge charge on Derrick White.
And he blocked a Tatum dunk attempt in a similar play. On both of these momentum shifting efforts, he was there for big man Myles Turner in a way where the Pacers center is usually there for his teammates.
On offense, he added 14 points (6 of 10) and had 11 of those in the fourth quarter. He had three drives in the fourth quarter for baskets where he attacked Al Horford off the dribble as the Celtics tried to muck up the Pacers flow by putting Holiday on Turner.
With a smile on his face, he hit White with a too small on another bucket. He was beaming with pride beating the team that he could never find a consistent role with over the first couple years of his career. The Pacers won his minutes by 13 points in the second half.
#2 and #3 Pacers playoff veterans come out aggressive
Bruce Brown (A-) and Myles Turner (B+) have the most playoff experience on this young Pacers team. They set the tone early with their aggressive play as they scored 15 of the first 17 Pacers points. While Brown only went 3 for 10 on the game, he got to the free throw line and hit two of his makes in the opening 6-minute stretch that had the Pacers up 17-12.
Brown assisted on two of Turner’s buckets, a mismatch inside and a roll to the rim for an and-1.
Brown hit one pull-up 3-pointer early in transition and hit another deep shot with his foot on the line. He made it clear after the Miami game that he had to be better than the previous Celtics matchup where he scored only two points and he certainly answered that call.
His and-1 basket in the third quarter was the only bucket not created by Haliburton among the first 27 points scored in the quarter. To end the second quarter, he got the Pacers the slimmest amount of momentum to end a Celtics run where it looked like they might be ready to blow it open by drawing a foul on a drive.
Brown finished with 13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. He found Turner in the post with Sam Houser on him in the fourth quarter after Turner had missed four straight shots to open the quarter. A key moment to stay trusting his teammate and making the right play. Turner finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. While he did have a few frustrating rebounds that he was unable to gather with his hands or properly time on his jump, it felt like a lot of the Pacers troubles on the glass also came while they were playing small. Turner was +22 on the night.
#4 Buddy Hield (A) goes off in second half
Hield was quiet in the first half with 5 points (2 of 4) and an assist. After he missed a 3 that bounced up and got stuck on the top of the backboard, he was lights out. He ended up with 16 points in the second half as the Pacers outscored their opponent by 21 points with Hield on the floor during those final quarters. Multiple timely threes, being in the right place at the right time like on the McConnell block. In a great decision-making situation, he didn’t take a quick 3 with the crowd still electrified after the Haliburton 4-point play and instead rushed back to give the ball back to the point guard.
He eventually gave up his decision making to the fans when he stole the Celtics final in-bounds pass and released the 3-point shot on the fans pleading requests for one last reason to scream their lungs out before the buzzer went off. Celtics may be mad about that one the next time they play but worth it in the moment.
Five Key Statistics to the Victory
- The Pacers survived the second quarter behind hot shooting from 3 (5 for 8) and timely drawn fouls as they missed 8 of their 10 attempts from the paint. Bennedict Mathurin (B+) was the epitome of this as he went 4 for 7 from deep in the game and 1 for 7 from inside the arc. He hit two triples in the corner after Kornet was switched onto him and assisted on a Toppin 3 that served as all 9 of the Pacers points from late in the first quarter to early second. Because of the struggle to beat the Celtics length inside in the first half, the Pacers shot better from 3 (47.5%, 19 of 40) than from 2 (44.4%, 24 of 54).
- The Pacers forced 18 turnovers from the Celtics and committed only 6, a season-low themselves. The added possessions gained here helped negate the rebounding battle. In the first half, the Pacers scored just three points off of eight turnovers in what felt like multiple missed opportunities but in the second half they scored 14 points off of 10 turnovers. No one highlights the Pacers taking care of the ball better than Haliburton who had zero turnovers with his 13 assists.
- The Boston Celtics shot just 12 free throws over the entire game. The fans booed about every one of them as is their right. The Pacers are not typically good at avoiding fouling as they rank 28th in opponent free-throw rate.
- The rebounding was a clear problem for Indiana especially during the minutes they went small. In the first half, they were out-rebounded 33-19. In the second half, they fought more on the glass, they were only beat 23-22. Some of that difference is just the simple fact that the Pacers missed a lot more shots in the first half than the second but guys like Turner (10), Haliburton (10), and Brown (8) did enough on the glass to give the team more opportunities to get out and run and get easier looks.
- This was the Pacers best defensive performance of the season in terms of effort and taking into account the level of opponent. Holding the Celtics to 24 points in the first and 23 in the third were major accomplishments for the starting unit. The Celtics made just 12 of 41 of their 3-pointers (29.3%) in a complete flip of their outrageous 20 of 35 performance against Indiana early in the season.
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