by Wheat Hotchkiss
It was an extremely frustrating night for Myles Turner through three quarters on Tuesday in Philadelphia. The Pacers’ star center battled foul trouble in Indiana’s In-Season Tournament game against reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid and the 76ers, tallying just two points and playing just 7:45 over the first three periods.
But the nine-year veteran wasn’t deterred in the fourth quarter. Turner scored 15 points in the final frame and All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton then capped a spectacular night with the game-sealing 3-pointer to lift Indiana (7-4) to a 132-126 victory over Philadelphia (8-2).
The win avenged a loss to the Sixers on Sunday, but more importantly, it moved Indiana to 2-0 in the group play phase of the new In-Season Tournament (IST) and into first place in East Group A. The Pacers have two more group games remaining in Atlanta on Nov. 21 and against Detroit on Nov. 24. The winner of each group will advance to the IST quarterfinals, which will take place the first week of December.
Indiana’s victory snapped an eight-game win streak for the East-leading Sixers.
“We know there’s higher stakes in this game (with the) In-Season Tournament,” Haliburton said. “I’ve never played in a playoff game, so I take this very serious because it’s my first time really competing for a championship, having a chance to.”
The Pacers led 117-116 with four minutes to play on Tuesday. Turner came through on Indiana’s next two possessions, converting a layup and then knocking down a three from the right wing to push the lead to six points.
Embiid’s layup with 2:43 to play trimmed the deficit for the Sixers, but Bruce Brown answered with a bucket at 2:06.
Haliburton then provided the dagger, drilling a stepback three from in front of the Pacers’ bench with 1:03 remaining to put the game on ice.
Haliburton finished with 33 points and 15 assists, going 11-for-18 from the field and 7-for-12 from 3-point range. Six of those threes came in the first half, with the seventh in the closing minutes sealing the victory.
Obi Toppin had a season-high 27 points on 12-of-15 shooting, while Turner came through in the fourth quarter to finish with 17 points in just 19 minutes.
“Maturity and just staying ready,” Turner said of what allowed him to excel late after a frustrating first three quarters. “I think my teammates, especially Tyrese, just kept saying, ‘Big second half, big second half. We’re going to need you, we’re going to need you.’ When you have guys that believe in you like that, it makes it easy.”
The Pacers got off to a fantastic start on Tuesday, outscoring the Sixers 14-6 over the first three and a half minutes. Bennedict Mathurin and Haliburton both hit 3-pointers in that early spurt and Toppin capped it with a furious right-hand slam on the break.
The Sixers clawed back behind eight points apiece from Tobias Harris and Embiid, briefly taking a 22-21 lead on Embiid’s hook shot with 5:22 remaining in the opening frame.
But Haliburton and the Blue & Gold quickly answered. The Pacers’ All-Star point guard hit three threes over the next three minutes to trigger a 13-4 Indiana run.
The visitors remained in front for the remainder of the opening frame, taking a 36-30 lead into the second quarter.
The Pacers faced some adversity in the second quarter as the fouls racked up against their big men. Turner picked up his third foul with 10:31 remaining in the third quarter. Isaiah Jackson checked in for him, but picked up his third at the 6:56 mark. Jalen Smith entered for Jackson, but took a hard blow from Marcus Morris almost immediately after entering and had to go to the locker room. Jackson returned and promptly picked up his fourth foul.
With their other center Daniel Theis out on Tuesday for personal reasons, the Pacers had to turn to a small-ball lineup with forward Toppin at center for the remainder of the first half.
Nonetheless, that smaller lineup held its own against Embiid and company, holding the Sixers scoreless for nearly three full minutes. The Pacers reeled off nine unanswered points over that stretch — including back-to-back threes from Aaron Nesmith and Haliburton (his sixth of the first half) — to extend their lead to 60-48.
Philadelphia never got closer than eight before the break and headed to the intermission trailing by nine, 63-54.
The Pacers managed to keep the lead for most of the third quarter. Former Sixer T.J. McConnell provided a key spark for Indiana off the bench, scoring nine of 11 points for Indiana at one point.
But Philadelphia slowly chipped away at the Pacers’ lead with a 17-7 run, ultimately tying the game at 92 on two free throws by De’Anthony Melton with 51.5 seconds remaining in the frame.
Brown’s jumper on the other end put Indiana back in front, but two more Melton free throws tied the game once again.
With the final seconds in the frame ticking away, Haliburton attacked the paint and drew a foul on Melton (his fifth). Indiana’s star point guard then hit one of two free throws with 0.8 seconds remaining to give the visitors a narrow 95-94 advantage with one quarter to play.
A bizarre situation unfolded early in the fourth quarter. Harris took a blow to the head when Brown jumped over him on a shooting foul with 10:40 remaining in the game. Harris remained down on the floor holding his neck and was removed from the game to check him for a concussion (he would return less than a minute of game action later after passing a concussion test).
Initially, the referees ruled that Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle could pick any player on the Philadelphia bench to take the free throws for Harris. Carlisle chose forward KJ Martin, who missed both free throws and the game continued.
But after a timeout at 7:28, the officials realized that they had made an incorrect ruling. Because Harris exited the game due to the league’s concussion protocol, the 76ers were supposed to choose who would shoot the free throws for him. After a lengthy review, they replayed those foul shots, with Maxey making both to give Philadelphia a 107-105 lead.
The Pacers responded to that adversity, however, reeling off an 11-2 run shortly after the stoppage to take a 117-111 lead with less than five minutes to play and never relinquished the lead the rest of the way.
Brown tallied 14 points, five rebounds, and three assists in the victory, while McConnell tallied 11 points and three assists in 13 minutes off the bench against his former team.
Indiana’s collective effort was enough to overcome Philadelphia’s four-man wrecking crew. Embiid, Melton, Maxey, and Harris combined for all but eight of the Sixers’ points, with all four players surpassing 20 points on the night.
Embiid led the way with 39 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, and three steals, going 11-for-22 from the field and 17-for-17 from the free throw line. Melton added 30 points while going 4-for-6 from 3-point range and 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. Maxey followed up his career-high 50-point performance on Sunday with 27 points and five assists, while Harris added 22 points on 11-of-17 shooting.
The Pacers now have four days off before resuming action on Sunday, when they host the Orlando Magic at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Inside the Numbers
Toppin’s 27-point performance was his first 20-point game as a Pacer.
Haliburton has now recorded a double-double in nine of his first 10 games to start the season. He entered Tuesday leading the NBA in assists by a full two assists per game at 12.2 assists per contest, then dished out 15 more dimes to increase his average.
Turner scored 15 points in the fourth quarter, going 4-for-7 from the field and 6-for-7 from the free throw line.
The Pacers demonstrated tremendous improvement on the glass in their second straight game against the Sixers. Indiana actually outrebounded Philadelphia 41-38 overall and 10-5 on the offensive glass on Tuesday, while matching the Sixers 8-8 in second-chance points. In Sunday’s loss, Philadelphia outrebounded the Blue & Gold 54-32 overall and 23-8 on the offensive boards while dominating Indiana 30-10 in second-chance points.
Melton’s 30 points were more than double his previous season high (14 points against Washington on Nov. 6) and three shy of his career high.
Embiid entered the night second in the NBA in scoring at 32.3 points per game and increased that scoring average with his 39-point performance, his sixth 30-point game in six contests to begin the season.
You Can Quote Me On That
“Very proud of the guys and how they were able to adjust from game one to game two of this series. The rebounding was a preposterous difference in the first game. Tonight they only had five offensive rebounds. Our guys made a great adjustment there, were very persistent, and just pursued. That was huge.” -Carlisle on the keys to Tuesday’s victory
“Last game I felt like we played 76ers basketball in the first half (and) played our team’s style, Pacers basketball in the second half. When we (went) back and watched the film, we preached for the last two days just playing our style of basketball, our brand. They don’t want to play the way we play, getting up and down and flying up the floor. If we get stops and don’t foul, they’re forced to play our way. And if we’re making shots, then they’re really forced to play our way. We were able to do that tonight.” -Haliburton on what changed from Sunday to Tuesday
“I think our mentality was just different…Tonight we had an aggressive disposition from the start.” -Turner on the key to Tuesday’s win
“This is the ultimate environment to play a regular season game of this magnitude. There’s equals, but there’s none tougher. We had to be up to the mental challenge of playing through some difficult situations.” -Carlisle on the atmosphere on Tuesday
“For sure. This is one of the best atmospheres in the league to play in. The fans are always into the game, talking mess, just cheering on their team. It’s great to go back and forth with them and get a win.” -Brown on it feeling like a playoff game in the fourth quarter
“Myles did everything down the stretch. He took a charge, he had one or two blocks, he rebounded, he finished. He hit a really important 3-pointer that gave us a cushion. And he just kept playing.” -Carlisle on Turner taking over in the fourth quarter
“He had a good feel for the game from the beginning. His running ability is a big part of who we are right now. It just seemed like in the second half when we would be reeling a little bit, somehow he’d find a way. There was a lob pass for the dunk, there was one or two cuts under the basket for difficult finishes…He just kept coming. That’s the kind of team we’ve got to be.” -Carlisle on Toppin’s performance
Stat(s) of the Night
After tallying 17 assists and no turnovers on Sunday, Haliburton had 15 assists and zero turnovers on Tuesday. His 32 assists without a turnover over the past two games are the most ever by a player in a two-game span.
Haliburton also recorded back-to-back games with 25 or more points, 15 or more assists, and zero turnovers. No other player has more than one game that fits that criteria since turnovers were first tracked in 1977-78 (per OptaSTATS) and the feat had only been accomplished 13 times prior to Haliburton’s last two contests.
On Tuesday, Haliburton became just the fifth player ever to have 30+ points, 15+ assists, and zero turnovers in a game, joining a list that includes LeBron James (March 21, 2018), John Stockton (Dec. 28, 1989), Chris Paul (Jan. 6, 2009), and James Harden (March 1, 2021).
Noteworthy
- Tuesday’s win snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Pacers against the Sixers and an eight-game skid in Philadelphia. It was the Blue and Gold’s first win against the Sixers since Nov. 13, 2021, and their first win at Wells Fargo Center since Dec. 14, 2018.
- After exiting the game in the second quarter, Smith was diagnosed with a head injury. Out of an abundance of caution, he was transported to a local hospital for additional testing and evaluation.
- McConnell surpassed 4,000 career points in the fourth quarter. The nine-year veteran now has 4,002 points.
- While the Pacers were without Theis, 76ers forward Nicolas Batum also missed Tuesday’s contest due to personal reasons. Batum had started on Sunday in place of Kelly Oubre Jr., who fractured his ribs when he was hit by a car as a pedestrian on Saturday.
Up Next
The Pacers return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse to host Paolo Banchero and the Orlando Magic on Sunday, Nov. 19 at 5:00 PM ET
Originally posted on nba.com