The Indiana Pacers hadn’t scored in nearly three minutes against the tanking Washington Wizards and Myles Turner had just picked up his second foul. Enter Moses Brown, who signed with the team just four days prior.

“I kind of had it in my mind if anybody gets in foul trouble, just be ready, be ready for any situation,” Brown said after his first chance in non-garbage time with the team. “As soon as Myles got the second one, JJ (James Johnson) looked at me like ‘Be ready’ … they were at the free throw line, and Coach just subbed me in. I got really excited. I just went out there and did what I do.”

What he had to do was provide an immediate boost to the Pacers offense as he scored the team’s first 8 points and got the offense started in the first quarter. He quickly scored off of Haliburton getting doubled inside as he caught the pass, took one power dribble and dunked it over Alexandre Sarr, scored on the following possession by gathering up an offensive rebound off of a block with his long arms and quickly put it in, scored as a trailing big in transition on a lefty finish, and then kept an offensive rebound alive and scored on a little lefty push shot in the lane.

“I thought Moses Brown gave us an amazing lift in this game,” Rick Carlisle said postgame after the Pacers win over the Wizards. “You know, he went in early when Myles had the two fouls, he immediately scored eight points. And he just is a real rim presence and he attacks the basket.”

The 7’2” Brown’s scoring outburst led to 11 points total in the first quarter and not only gave the team a lift on the scoreboard but also a needed lift in the team’s spirits to start the home-stand after a winless road trip. Just look at the bench’s reaction to each successive basket, those type of joyous moments have been fleeting early in the season.

“I’m excited that he’s coming to our group because he’s just a good guy that fits right in with what we’re doing,” Tyrese Haliburton said of Brown. “Obviously, when you first get to a team, sometimes you don’t really know what’s going on out there offensively, it’s just playing off of feel and stuff. I’m really happy for him. Hopefully he can continue to build off this. I thought he did a great job stepping up, he got our first eight. I don’t know who had that on their bingo card but it’s good to see. I thought he kept us afloat early and did some really good stuff.”

At 25, Brown has been the definition of a journeyman with plenty of experience with quickly learning new teams as the Pacers are his 7th team in six seasons in the league, and the only team he’s spent more than one season with is the Portland Trail Blazers in two separate stints five years apart from each other.

“I’ve played a lot of different places,” Brown said. “So I’ve kind of gotten a feel for different defenses, different coverages, and especially playing with a unit like this, that have a high basketball IQ, just being in the right spots can make a whole lot of difference.”

After Brown’s fantastic first quarter stretch, he didn’t play for the next two quarters as Turner avoided foul trouble and the Pacers tried going small when he wasn’t out there for a few minutes to start the second quarter and to end the third quarter. In the fourth, he returned with further success offering needed rim protection and rebounding.

“He’s a big guy,” Pascal Siakam said of Brown. “His presence at the rim, he alters shots, rebounds, and he has nice touch. It’s good. I think just having a big body out there definitely helps us a little bit.”

Brown finished with 15 points, 4 rebounds, and a block in just over 12 minutes of action, immediately showcasing the value of having someone really tall to play as a backup center after going weeks without one.