Pacers continue pursuit to rise above .500 and not look back

After beating the Suns on Saturday, the Pacers are 18-18 having survived a tough stretch of the schedule. Now what?

The Pacers turned up their level of play in the second half to run away from the Suns on Saturday night for a 126-108 win.

Tyrese Haliburton turned up his game in the second half, scoring 18 of his game high, 27 points with 8 assists and 0 turnovers. Myles Turner continued his strong play, enjoying the Suns thin front court without Jusuf Nurkic, scoring 20 points with 6 rebounds and 3 blocks including a sweet hammer dunk via pass from Andrew Nembhard after rolling to the hoop. So nice to hear the Fieldhouse roar!

The win gave the Pacers a .500 record with a chance in Brooklyn on Monday night to go over the 50/50 win/loss mark for the first time since winning their opener in Detroit. The game against the Suns also marked the end of a difficult 11-game stretch that threatened to bury the Pacers this season and bring about potential big changes.

This seemed inevitable after the ghastly loss to the Hornets on Dec. 8 which left the Pacers at 10-15 for the season. Instead, this stretch may define the Pacers season.

The Pacers were betting underdogs in 9 of the 11 games and and went 6-3 in those games while winning the two games as a favorite. After winning the first five of the 11-game stretch, the Pacers went 8-3 overall with two of the losses to OKC and Milwaukee, letting go double-digit leads in both. Simply an overall impressive stretch of ball with an improved level of play both defensively and offensively, putting themselves in position to win 10 of the last 11 games.

The effort to rise above .500 and not look back begins on Monday night against Brooklyn, a team they lost to as a road favorite on Dec. 4. If you take a look at the injury list below, the Nets will be missing a lot of firepower and maybe the bulk of their firepower in this game. Kinda reminds me of that ghastly Hornets loss, so yeah…no counting Ws.

Prior to the Suns game, Rick Carlisle updated the status of Aaron Nesmith who has been out two months, last playing on Nov. 1. There has been video of Nesmith doing some shooting and running work dating back to December 10th but he’s remained sidelined. Carlisle didn’t have a return timeline but indicated now Nesmith is trying to improve his game shape and is playing 3 on 3 and some 5 on 5.

Pacers vs. Nets

Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY

When: Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, 7:30 p.m. ET

TV: FanDuel Sports Network

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan

Odds: Pacers -10

Projected Starters

Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Bennedict Mathurin, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner

Nets: Keon Johnson, Tyrese Martin, Ziaire William, Jalen Wilson, Nic Claxton

Injuries

Pacers: Aaron Nesmith (ankle) - out, James Wiseman (Achilles) - out, Isaiah Jackson (Achilles) - out

Nets: D'Angelo Russell (shin) - questionable, Ben Simmons (back) - questionable, Bojan Bogdanovic (foot) - out, Cameron Johnson (ankle) - out, Maxwell Lewis (tibia) - out, De’Anthony Melton (knee) - out, Cam Thomas (hamstring) - out, Trendon Watford (hamstring) - out