After strong finish to put away Knicks, Pacers try to stack wins against Magic
The Pacers delivered a 40-point 4Q to electrify the Fieldhouse and beat the Knicks in their last outing.
The Pacers returned to .500 (5-5) after bouncing back from a frustrating loss in Charlotte to rally and beat the New York Knicks, 132-121 at the Fieldhouse on Sunday.
That .500 record is currently good for third place in the East, yet remains unimpressive. The Pacers were 4-4 when they faced the Hornets last Friday, targeting another win to rise about the .500 mark with the intent to stay there for the rest of the season. Instead, the short-handed Pacers scored just 83 points and lost by 20 to an equally short-handed Hornets team. Ugh.
Welp, that goal has returned after beating the Knicks in a wildly entertaining at the Fieldhouse on Sunday afternoon. The Pacers will face the Magic in Orlando for the third of four meetings this season with another chance to start pushing their record above .500 for the rest of the season.
The Pacers were still short-handed against the Knicks who are light in the front court but only play six guys anyways. The Pacers traded blows for three quarters before wearing out the Knicks with a 40-point fourth quarter with buckets splashing from all over the court. Bennedict Mathurin made 7 of 9 threes for the game to finish with 38 points and 8 rebounds. Tyrese Haliburton shook off a slow start to finish with a monster effort, posting 35 points and 14 assists. Myles Turner also took awhile to find his shooting range, but ended up making 5 of 6 3-balls to finish with 26 points.
The Pacers finished the game making 21 of 46 threes compared to NYK’s 7 of 25 from deep. That differential was more than enough to deliver the winning margin for the Pacers. Mathurin has announced his presence with authority and teaming up with Haliburton for 73 points makes it hard not to daydream about the future.
But the Pacers are focused on the here and now, trying to gain some traction in the standings while working through injuries. Fortunately, there were also impressive efforts from the supporting cast which included two-way players Quenton Jackson and Enrique Freeman, as well as rookie Johnny Furphy.
QJack filled in nicely at point guard as TJ McConnell just played 16 minutes while returning from an illness. The Mad Ants mad man on defense spent his time guarding the Knicks ball handlers 94 feet. His physical play frustrated Jalen Brunson at times, luring a chicken wing shove or two from the Knicks’ star, but Jackson didn’t get a favorable whistle. Regardless, his 11 minutes for noticeable and appreciated.
Jarace Walker played a much bigger role off the bench earning 27 minutes thanks for a strong second-half effort. Walker had 6 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals for the game, but his second half defense flashed if ability to float from the 5 to the 1 when necessary. He had a couple of early fourth quarter possessions on Brunson which altered the emotion of the game as the Pacers started to seize control of the game.
The clip below shows the first possession in which Walker was able to shut down Brunson’s drive and then use his length to block Brunson’s patented fade away. A couple of possessions later, Walker again denied Brunson’s drive and then stayed solid and on the ground waiting on that shot which Brunson realized he was unable to shoot.
Defense can be fun people.
Walker didn’t spend many possessions on Brunson and it almost felt like after those two stops, the Pacers would be better off not leaning on that option too much this early in the season, instead waiting until the stakes are higher (hopefully) later in the season.
So after a couple of days off, the Pacers are in Orlando for yet another game against the Magic, before a pair of games against the Heat over the weekend, including the first NBA Cup game on Friday. The last time the Pacers were in Orlando, Paolo Banchero punked the Pacers for 50 points as the Magic held on to win 119-115. The Banchero tweaked an oblique in his next game and remains out. The Pacers beat the Magic last week, 118-111, taking advantage of the front court injuries to Orlando.
The Magic leaned heavily on Franz Wanger and their dynamic and defensive-minded guards to make things difficult. No doubt, the game will be played in similar fashion this time around. Obi Toppin did not play against the Knicks but appears set to return in his reserve role. Andrew Nembhard will likely remain out while Aaron Nesmith is out and not expected back until some time in December.
When the Pacers star players deliver like they did against the Knicks, they have enough depth to survive the current injury issues. If not, they’ll continue on the .500 treadmill they desperately want to run past.
Pacers vs. Magic
Where: Kia Center, Orlando, FL
When: Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, 7:00 p.m. ET
TV: FanDuel Sports Network
Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan
Odds: Pacers -2.5
Projected Starters
Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton, Ben Sheppard, Bennedict Mathurin, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner
Magic: Jalen Suggs, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Franz Wagner, Tristan da Silva, Goga Bitadze
Injuries
Pacers: Aaron Nesmith (ankle) - out, James Wiseman (Achilles) - out, Isaiah Jackson (Achilles) - out, Andrew Nembhard (knee) - out, Obi Toppin (ankle) - questionable
Magic: Paolo Banchero (oblique) - out, Wendell Carter Jr. (foot) - out
If Rick Carlisle even thinks of moving Mathurin back to the bench, Pritchard should have security escort Carlisle from the building. It was wonderful seeing both Mathurin and Haliburton thrive. It was great seeing Walker get good minutes and defend Brunson so well. These things would not be happening if Nesmith and Nembhard were healthy, and that is frustrating on some level.