Pacers fix what's broken at least for one night
The Pacers won a game in Chicago to end their road woes before heading back to the 'House. Now what?
The Pacers were firing on all cylinders offensively, particularly from behind the arc, in their 132-123 win over the Bulls on Friday. After arguably the worst second quarter performance of the year on Wednesday in Brooklyn (18 points, 12 turnovers) the Pacers seized control of this win with a monster second quarter effort.
The Pacers won 2Q, 36-19 with all nine players in the rotation scoring while also slowing down the Bulls who were playing on a back-to-back. Now the defensive end didn’t hold up, these our the Pacers after all, and the Bulls hit them for 39 points in the third quarter, but the Pacers were able to keep rolling with 36 points.
Having such an offensive epiphany is always beautiful, but this was such a stark difference to what the Pacers rolled out earlier in the week that it was stunning and a real throwback to the games of yesteryear, or…well, last year.
After the game, Rick Carlisle mentioned a 90 minute shootaround in Chicago on Friday that emphasized all the offensive errors of the Pacers recent ways, particularly in regard to spacing, cutting and getting the ball in the paint to create strain on the defense and open up easy buckets at the rim or open threes with kick outs.
Appears everyone was listening and on the same page because they executed and unlocked great looks all over the floor. And everyone contributed in their own way.
The Pacers scored 56 points (!) in the paint and made 18 of 30 3-balls. That alone is 110 points, far more than the 90 they scored against the Nets. Yes, the Bulls are no defensive juggernaut, but as is often the case, the Pacers were great at the things they could control.
The balance was incredible and the emphasis on spacing and pushing the pace unlocked TJ McConnell and Obi Toppin to be their best selves and fortify the reserve rotation. Obi and TJ both scored 17 points and both ad 5 assists as an example of how the ball was moving. Jarace Walker also had 4 assists off the bench while the starters set the tone. Tyrese Halibuton had 8 assists, Myles Turner and Andrew Nembhard (in limited minutes) each had 4 assists.
As for buckets, Haliburton made 5 of 9 threes after finding a Bulls’ fan to engage with to finish with a team high 23 points. But everyone was eating with Benn Mathurin scoring 19 points, Pascal Siakam adding 21 points and Myles Turner with 15 points, including a pair of three-pointers in the fourth quarter to help keep the Pacers out of a crunch time situation.
That wasn’t easy considering the Bulls were also shooting at a high clip. Zach LaVine also made 5 threes as part of his 32 points and Coby White (who did not play the night before) made 4 threes, scoring 19 points and keeping the Bulls in touch throughout the second half.
So, as mentioned after the loss in Brooklyn, this did turn out to be an ‘enough is enough’ game for the Pacers. They appeared broken with Tyrese Haliburton sitting on the bench, head in his hands and it seemed like rock bottom. There is only one way to go from there and the Pacers showed life and bounced back in a big way AS A TEAM against the Bulls.
The hope is that this will be a turning point in the season that we all look back on at the end of the season. But for now, this is still just one game. The three-point shooting certainly isn’t sustainable, but the process and effort they used to get great offensive looks should be.
Hornets next
On Sunday evening, the Pacers host the Hornets, a team the Pacers scored just 83 points against in an awful 20-point loss in Charlotte a month ago. But both the Pacers and Hornets will be different this time. Charlotte put up a spirited effort (including a career high 9 points from former Pacer, Isaiah Wong) but lost to Cleveland on Saturday afternoon, so they arrive at the Fieldhouse on a back-to-back while riding a 8-game losing streak.
LaMelo Ball, who scored 31 points in the win over Indiana the first time, is out with a calf, along Miles Bridges and Grant Williams cutting into Charlotte’s depth and size. Injury issues are a reason, Wong was signed for some emergency help. So, the matchup starts looking much like the Bulls matchup where the Pacers will be fine with one big man. Then they just have to, you know, execute.
The Fieldhouse faithful is begging for some good ball from the home team, so the promise they showed in Chicago will be much appreciated if they can back it up with a similar effort. When the Pacers have fun, everyone has fun at the Fieldhouse and we saw how much they enjoyed the fruits of their extra labor on Friday, so how ‘bout they just run it back, again.
Pacers vs. Hornets
Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
When: Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, 5:00 p.m. ET
TV: FanDuel Sports Network
Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan
Odds: Pacers -11.5
Projected Starters
Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Bennedict Mathurin, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner
Hornets: Vasilije Micic, Brandon Miller, Cody Martin, Josh Green, Nick Richards
Injuries
Pacers: Andrew Nembhard (knee) - questionable, Ben Sheppard (oblique) - out, Aaron Nesmith (ankle) - out, James Wiseman (Achilles) - out, Isaiah Jackson (Achilles) - out
Hornets: Nick Richards (ankle) - questionable, LaMelo Ball (calf) - out, Miles Bridges (knee) - out, Tre Mann (back) - out, Tidjane Salaun (ankle) - out, Grant Williams (knee) - out