Summer Pacers show out in Vegas opener, beat Wizards

The Pacers' vets set the tone and their top pick flashed where they need him most.

In what turned out to be a classic NBA Summer League game, the Summer Pacers beat the Washington Wizards, 91-83 with several players making plenty of plays that should have fans excited for how they can help in the regular season.

As for the game, the Pacers rolled to big first half lead, making the Wizards look more like the Washington Generals at times as the good guys took a 51-29 lead to the half. To be fair, that should’ve been how the game played out with Pacers playing three rotation players from last season in Andrew Nembhard, Bennedict Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson significant minutes, while the Wiz were hoping to pump life into Johnny Davis while remaining young and inexperienced elsewhere on the roster.

To the Wiz credit, they continued fighting and caught the Pacers exhaling in the third quarter to make it a game the rest of the way. But, the game is less important than how the players in the game actually play the game.

The Pacers started rookies, Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard along with the three vets. Nine players total saw time with only Isaiah Wong and Kendall Brown getting significant time off the bench. Mojave King played two minutes in the first half and Oscar Tshiebwe played two four-minute stretches in each half. The rookie from Kentucky showed his nose for the ball in his limited minutes.

As for the starters, let’s give them their own bullet:

• Gotta start with Andrew Nembhard because he took full control of this game at the start. His first quarter effort was an homage to CP3 the way he was snaking his way into the lane and making space to bury midrange shots after getting the defense off balance. His pace was methodical, but the execution was surgical. A pleasure to watch. The game wasn’t as tight in the second half, but man, Nembhard will be hard to keep long term if this progression keeps up because he will need to run a team at some point.

• While Nembhard was impressive early, Bennedict Mathurin struggled to get going, but eventually ended up with a familiar game finishing with 27 points and leading the team from the free throw line. Still, much of his offense was forced of isos and not within the flow. He’s gonna draw a crowd, so he still needs to go in playmaker mode and feel the help coming to set up teammates instead of trying to play through the help. Fortunately, he seems aware of this and that’s why he's getting the reps in Vegas.

• Isaiah Jackson can be so exhilarating to watch play, it only NBA games allowed 10 fouls per game. IJax was so active on the glass and finishing around the rim he made his case for why he should be in the regular season rotation. 21 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks on 10-12 shooting is quite a productive night. The 8 fouls showed how he still needs to stay solid and stay on the ground more defensively.

• Rookie Jarace Walker was sensational even if his offensive game was clunky at time. The team’s top pick was just 3 of 13 from the floor and make 1 of 5 three pointers which was at least two 3PAs too many, but he’s not shy with it. Still, look at his line with 8 points, 5 assists, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals. He was everywhere and his ability to grab a defensive rebound and push it up the floor showed his strong feel for the game and playmaking ability. He pushed the ball up the floor both with long outlet passes and his own dribbling up the floor, including a signature play, eventually dropping a bounce pass to a running IJax for a dunk. The blocks and steals showed what great hands the young fella has and while there is tons of growth needed, he’s starting from a great place. For now, if he can defend, rebound and help facilitate the offense, any scoring scraps he gets on offense is gravy. Quality start. House of Highlights enjoyed it.

• The other first-rounder, Ben Sheppard didn’t have a highlight reel full of plays, although he played 28 minutes. He missed all of this shots, but only took four. What stood out for Shep was his on ball defense and willingness to get into guys and move. He certainly wasn’t perfect and Johnny Davis got him a few times, but he’s going to be a solid wing defender. Then we can wait for his comfort level to kick in on the offensive side of the ball.

Nearly the whole Pacers roster was on hand courtside with newbies Obi Toppin and Bruce Brown among the group. After watching these young guys perform and then seeing that group of dynamic players on the sideline, this squad is going to be a League Pass darling once the real games begin.

The Summer Pacers play the Magic at 8:30 p.m. ET on Monday night. Check out the highlights from the win.