Pacers dump final home game, hit road to end regular season against Cavs
The regular season ends on Sunday with the Pacers already locked into a first round playoff series with the Bucks.
The Pacers and Magic played reserve roulette for the final home game of the regular season with one kinda starter (Cory Joseph) for the Magic, while the Pacers rested all of their starters. The game was appropriately forgettable with the Magic rolling over the Pacers for a 129-115 win. This despite the fact that the deep the Pacers outscored the Magic 39-20 in the fourth quarter.
Not many highlights for the for the Pacers second unit over the first three quarters as the Magic made makin’ buckets look far too easy. Meanwhile the Pacers struggled at times to get their own buckets. Bennedict Mathurin forced the action far too much early, but after playing over 41 minutes, Mathurin made it to 20 points on 17 shots, thanks to making 9 of 13 free throws.
Mathurin’s four missed free throws were part of a 23 for 35 effort from the line for the team, which, combined with 17 turnovers, was an indicator of not being dialed in, despite the opportunity for more minutes. Jarace Walker was solid, with 15 points, 8 rebounds and continues to be reliable from behind the arc. Walker and Mathurin both had 5 turnovers which made things clunky for the Pacers.
Johnny Furphy played 32 minutes and took his time finding his way in the game, but find his way he did. After a highlight, driving dunk on Goga Bitadze that had the Pacers bench erupting and running in all directions, Furph turned it on and finished with a career high 17 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and made a couple of threes, but continued attacking the rim and showing he has a nose for physical play which is always surprising and fun to watch.
The Magic just had too much going right, as they scored 80 points over the second and third quarters. For some reason, Anthony Black didn’t start, but scored 21 points and 7 assist off the bench. However, the player of the game was former Pacers/Mad Ants guard, Trevelin Queen, who seemingly couldn’t miss. He drained a career high 6 3-balls and scored a career high 25 points. The Pacers trailed by 35 points, a couple of times.
Fortunately, the outcome didn’t matter much for the Pacers with the fourth seed set. By the end of the night, the Bucks were locked in as the first round opponent, as expected.
The Pacers close out the regular season in Cleveland on Sunday afternoon. At this point, only Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam are listed as out for the Cavs, while on the other side it appears 8 or 9 of the Cavs’ top 10 players are sitting this one out.
There are pros and cons for the Pacers winning this game that won’t impact the success or failure in the playoffs. A win would be No. 50 for the Pacers which is a nice milestone which hasn’t been hit since 2014. The Pacers are also jumbled up with a few Western Conference teams with the inverse draft position. The loss on Friday bumped the Pacers up from 25 to 22. Losing could bump the up another couple of spots depending on the outcome of games out West.
Regardless, the playoffs can’t start soon enough, as that game on Friday was a rough watch and surely, we’ll see an extended rotation against the Cavs. Of course, these are great problems to have with the Pacers in this position which seemed impossible after that 10-15 start to the season. So, yeah, enjoy the blah…you earned it and so did the Pacers!
Pacers vs. Cavaliers
Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH
When: Sunday, Apr. 13, 2025, 1:00 p.m. ET
TV: FanDuel Sports Network
Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan
Odds: Pacers -4.5
Projected Starters
Pacers: TJ McConnell, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin, Myles Turner
Cavaliers: Craig Porter Jr., Jaylon Tyson, Javonte Green, Chuma Okeke, Jarrett Allen
Injuries
Pacers: Ben Sheppard (toe) - questionable, Tyrese Halliburton (lower back) - out, Pascal Siakam (elbow) - out, Isaiah Jackson (Achilles) - out
Cavaliers: Darius Garland (toe) - out, De'Andre Hunter (rest) - out, Ty Jerome (knee) - out, Sam Merrill (rest) - out, Donovan Mitchell (ankle) - out, Evan Mobley (back) - out, Isaac Okoro (rest) - out, Max Strus (knee) - out, Dean Wade (rest) - out