Pacers score last to beat Suns despite 62 points by Devin Booker

The Suns' scoring star burned the Pacers early and often, but also helped spark the comeback before being denied the game winner.

After a crazy start and an absolutely wild finish, the Pacers found themselves celebrating on the court while holding a hard-earned 133-131 W over the Suns, awash in exuberant praise from the Fieldhouse faithful who were equal parts stunned and out of their mind.

For this Pacers team, these types of nights downtown are becoming more common, with great effort given and unsung heroes rising up at winning time. But this one was special.

The relentless effort to not give in to a historic performance by an opponent, in this case Devin Booker who finished with 62 points, and instead grind away to finally get over the hump and tie the game at 129 after trailing the past 44 minutes of the game.

At the four minute mark, Booker and Pascal Siakam swapped two buckets each which put the Suns up 129-122 and it seemed like the Pacers would never get the game within one possession. But then suddenly, the Pacers cashed in a couple of Suns misses and an offensive foul by Grayson Allen and the game is tied.

Andrew Nembhard quickly answered a Booker bucket, his sixth point in a row for the Pacers as he attack Grayson Allen. The Pacers continued scrambling their defense, quick to double Booker while racing to cover others on the perimeter. That lead to a late contest of Kevin Durant, but it was enough for KD to miss a go-ahead 3-ball attempt with 30 seconds left. Suddenly the Pacers had the ball and the clock in their favor, setting up the final two possessions of the game that would test the strength of every bolt, screw and nail in the newly renovated Fieldhouse.

Nembhard initially went at Allen but help was lurking this time. Then Siakam got stuck in the middle and was able to get it back out. Mathurin took his turn with a signature drive and shot into traffic that didn’t draw a foul. Siakam had what looked like an easy putback, but smoked it, and then the basketball gods said, “Here.” The ball bounced out to Obi Toppin going against the grain for a layup with 3.4 seconds. So, yeah, the Siakam miss was beneficial because it ate more time.

The Suns then went to Booker for the final shot attempt which meant, Aaron Nesmith went to work. Nesmith ran his ass off all game and continued to pursue Booker in the second half despite the Suns’ guard scoring more than any other opponent in Fieldhouse history. But he would be stuck on 62. After slipping while catching the ball and somehow getting up without traveling (sure), Nesmith trailed to deflect Booker’s long attempted game winner. An absolute exquisite defensive effort considering the situation. Booker ended up on the floor, looking for a whistle but replays show the only foul would’ve been from Booker kicking out his leg.

Ball game. Madness.

Much thanks for Bleacher Report for gathering the final two minutes so you can feel the fun.

Lots of notes:

• Rick Carlisle spoke about his team’s “defiant competitiveness” as they continue to grow together since dealing for Pascal Siakam. The multiple rotation combinations that Siakam allows has other players excelling in other roles. None, more so than Nesmith who can guard 2s and 3s all the time and is definitely the ‘face’ of defiant competitiveness for this crew.

• The Suns are just a ridiculous matchup. After Booker, Durant and Beal hit the Pacers with 91 last Sunday, they combined for 94 this time around. Of course, Booker had 62 of those which seemed to help in the end because when the Pacers altered their approach to double Booker and scramble once he gave up the ball, no one else picked up the slack for Phoenix.

• Booker scored 29 points in the first quarter on 14 shots. I went through all 14 because it seemed the guy was on a heater regardless of the defense as Nembhard, Nesmith and Ben Sheppard all took turns. As I expected, most of the shots were contested but Booker was paying no mind to the defense. Truly an amazing scoring display.

• Booker also sparked a comeback fire when he was stuck near the rim and created space by elbowing Nesmith below the belt. Nesmith went down in a heap but no call was made. Carlisle was forced to get T’d up to have the refs consider but they didn’t even give it a look. This is the stuff the gets Draymond Green suspended for games, but they couldn’t even give it a look. Welp, turns out this is when the defiance within the Pacers ramped up another level and the crowd played their part, booing Booker whenever he touched the ball.

• There were some stops though. Despite trailing most of the game, the Pacers kept making enough plays to hang around and not get blown out. One of those plays in the first quarter came on a stop of Booker which ended up with Sheppard pushing the ball in transition before leaving it off to Siakam for an open 3-ball. Watch Sheppard after he gets the ball to Siakam…that’s some positive energy ‘flying’ back to the defensive end.

• Pascal Siakam finished with 31 points, scoring in a variety of ways throughout the game. I recall seeing that number on the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter and was surprised. Pretty quiet 31 points that really laid the foundation for the Pacers to swoop in an steal the dub.

• The Suns went all in for this one with their top heavy lineup. Durant, Booker and Allen all played over 37 minutes with Beal playing 34 despite a possible broken nose courtesy of running into Myles Turner’s elbow. Eric Gordon also played 30 minutes off the bench.

• Local legend EJ scored 14 points on 2 of 6 from 3-land but is dealing with a balky wrist. Late in the game I was surprised to see him not even look a the hoop when he had a wide open look from behind the arc. Been watching him since his sophomore year of high school and can’t remember him ever passing up an open look.

• The Suns small, potent attack had the Pacers mixing and matching different players which kept Myles Turner on the bench in the fourth quarter. Jalen Smith was initially playing ‘center’ at winning time but appeared to tweak his back which brought Obi Toppin to the floor for his heroic finish.

• The Pacers play the Grizzlies on Sunday evening with every chance in the world to exhale and ruin the good vibes. A situation similar to when they secured a short-handed win in Sacramento but then let the goodness spill out with a loss in Portland. The Grizz are severely short handed, but continue to battle with consecutive wins over Toronto, Miami and Orlando. Tyrese Haliburton may be available, but after the back-to-back wins over Philly and Phoenix, there is no urgency to rush Hali back. Plenty of teammates appear ready and willing to step up.

Game Details

Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN

When: Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024, 3:30 p.m. ET

TV: Bally Sports

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan

Projected Starters

Pacers: Andrew Nembhard, Buddy Hield, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner

Grizzlies: John Konchar, Luke Kennard, Vince Williams Jr., Santi Almada, Jaren Jackson Jr.

Injuries

Pacers: Jalen Smith (back) - questionable, Tyrese Haliburton (left hamstring) - out

Grizzlies: Steven Adams (knee) - out, Desmond Bane (ankle) - out, Brandon Clark (achilles) - out, Jake LaRavia (ankle) - out, Ja Morant (shoulder) - out, Derrick Rose (hamstring) - out, Marcus Smart (finger) - out