by Reagan Walsh
The Pacers extended their longest losing drought of the year to four games on Monday night as they fell to the Los Angeles Clippers, 151-127.
The Clippers (16-10), on the other hand, extended their win streak to eight games with their victory in Indianapolis. The leadership of James Harden’s season-high 35 points, fueled by his six 3-pointers on seven attempts in the fourth quarter, propelled them to the win.
For Indiana (13-12), the Blue and Gold were led by Bennedict Mathurin on a career-high night as he netted 34 points on 12-of-20 shooting off the bench. He also pulled down six rebounds and shot 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. Isaiah Jackson followed behind with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor to go along with four rebounds, giving him his fourth double-figure game in his five most recent outings. Obi Toppin and Buddy Hield both contributed 14 points apiece.
FIRST QUARTER
Both teams were unable to convert in their first possessions after both Kawhi Leonard and Tyrese Haliburton turned over the ball out of bounds for their respective teams. Bruce Brown soon jumpstarted the Pacers offense, however, when he scored Indiana’s first four points and earned them their first lead, 4-2, after roughly a minute of play.
Indiana went scoreless for the next two minutes. After a half court lob pass from Haliburton to Toppin resulted in a missed dunk, Toppin earned his own rebound under the basket and dished it out to Hield for a 3-pointer that ended the scoring drought.
After four lead changes, Indiana held a one-point lead at the 7:47 minute mark, but it was quickly overtaken twenty seconds later. The Clippers held the advantage for close to the remainder of the quarter, but the Pacers did not trail by more than six points at any time in the frame.
The frontcourt tandem of Leonard and Paul George were hard to stop in the first frame, as George contributed 13 points and Leonard added 10 points on a perfect 10-of-10 shooting clip.
After nearly eight minutes of trailing, the Pacers completed the comeback effort as Hield closed out the first frame by draining a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining, putting Indiana ahead, 38-37.
Jackson, who earned a spot in the starting lineup in place of Myles Turner who did not play due to injury, led Indiana with 11 first quarter points on a 5-of-6 shooting clip. Bruce Brown added nine points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor. Toppin and Hield added six points apiece.
Both teams shot significantly well in the first frame, as Indiana went 66.7 percent (16-of-24) and Los Angeles went 69.6 percent (16-of-23) from the floor.
SECOND QUARTER
The Blue and Gold raced ahead with a quick five points to open the second frame, contributed by a Toppin 3-pointer and a T.J. McConnell layup. They would maintain their lead for the next six minutes until the Clippers found their own groove with a 24-9 scoring run from the 4:36 minute mark to the 2:36 mark, which allowed them to take back the lead and eventually take a 70-60 advantage.
Indiana went cold in the second frame, shooting just 47.6 percent (10-of-21) from the floor and making only two of nine 3-point attempts. Mathurin, who earned 10 minutes of playing time off the bench in the second quarter, led the Pacers with 10 points.
Harden fueled the Los Angeles scoring attack in the second frame as he scored 12 of his 14 first-half points in the second quarter alone. Los Angeles took an eventual 13-point lead with 7.1 seconds remaining in the first half, but two made free throws from Jackson cut the deficit to 11 as the teams went into the locker room, 77-66.
THIRD QUARTER
The Clippers took control of the game in the third quarter as they steamrolled ahead with a 19-8 scoring run, allowing them to grow a 24-point advantage roughly seven minutes into second half play. Indiana made just three buckets of 12 attempts during this time.
Haliburton fueled the Pacers’ attack, accounting for 100 percent of Indiana’s first 13 points of the second half through a bucket of his own and 11 points resulting from four of his assists.
With a minute remaining in the frame, an Aaron Nesmith slam dunk gave him his seventh point as he led the Pacers in the scoring column in the second quarter. Mathurin followed behind with six points of his own. The Pacers closed out the third frame in the midst of what would become a 12-2 scoring run in the fourth quarter to trim the deficit to 114-94.
FOURTH QUARTER
Nesmith continued to shine as he earned the first bucket of the fourth quarter from a corner 3-pointer. The Pacers defense held the Clippers to 0-of-5 to start the frame, giving themselves time to bring the deficit to 15 points—their lowest deficit since the 11:02 minute mark in the third quarter—off of a layup from McConnell.
However, a 3-pointer from Harden directly following McConnell’s layup halted Indiana’s momentum and marked the beginning of a 23-9 Los Angeles scoring run. This 3-pointer also propelled the start of Harden’s own scoring run, as he proceeded to net another five threes on five attempts within the next four minutes. The quarter belonged to Harden who notched 21 of Los Angeles’ 37 fourth-frame points.
Despite 14 points from Mathurin in the fourth quarter, the Pacers were ultimately unable to catch up to what eventually became a 32-point lead at one point in the frame.
Following Harden’s 35 points and team-high nine assists was Leonard’s 28 points, as well as George’s 27 points and four assists. Norman Powell added 19 points off the bench, while Zubac added 18 points.
Inside the Numbers
Fueled by Mathurin’s 34 points, Indiana’s bench outscored Los Angeles’ bench, 65-39. Nesmith’s 12 points, McConnell’s 10 points, and Jordan Nwora’s nine points also rounded out the Pacer reserves.
Indiana racked up 38 assists with the help of Haliburton’s team-high 11 assists.
The Pacers netted 12 3-pointers and shot 17-of-21 from the free throw line.
The Blue and Gold scored 20 points off of fast breaks, while the Clippers scored 11 fast break points.
The Clippers netted a season-high 151 points, supported by their additional season-high of 19 3-pointers.
Los Angeles outrebounded Indiana, 46-34.
You Can Quote Me On That
“Tonight was ugly. It’s just something that’s not acceptable. I don’t care how talented they are, or anything else, we just allowed them to really do whatever they wanted to do. I gotta take responsibility for not having these guys ready to play.” – Head Coach Rick Carlisle on the loss
“Defense is the easy answer. Anytime you let a team hang 150, you’re probably not gonna win more times than not. We’re struggling to defend right now. I think it’s understood that we’re not the team that’s sneaking up anymore. People are going to be prepared when they play us.” – Haliburton on defense
“It’s kind of disappointing, just the way we came out and played. But I think the good thing about the NBA is you get a day off, practice, and then you get to go back again and change the whole narrative. Just trying to keep your head up and focus on the next thing.” – Mathurin on the loss
“We’re missing some of our best defenders right now, that doesn’t help. But it’s not a valid excuse. We’re making a lot of mistakes, and we just need to do it better and we need to do it harder.” – Carlisle on defense
“I think that we got to where we were by just playing harder than people. And we’re not doing that right now. So the switch has to flip here, pretty quick.” – Haliburton on Indiana’s recent skid
“I feel like it says a lot about my game. What I have to do in order to help my team win, just finding the right place, just making an extra pass, taking the right shots.” – Mathurin on teams learning how to defend him
“We got a huge target on our back because of winning some games in the [In-Season] Tournament. The Pacers aren’t sneaking up on anybody. But our mindset, if it’s shifted to just simply trying to outscore teams and away from any kind of emphasis defensively, that’s gotta stop. If it means massive lineup changes, then that’s what will happen.” – Carlisle on mindset
“I’m really proud of Isaiah just for being ready. He’s done a great job of being prepared when his number is called, and you saw that tonight. I thought he was really good for us tonight, especially early. He had some really tough finishes in the paint.” – Haliburton on Jackson
“Our best players have to understand and they have to believe that the little things are important. That concentration and focus are extremely important. And so when the best players believe it, they preach it and it becomes gospel. It can’t just be the coach.” – Carlisle on leaders
Stat of the Night
Bennedict Mathurin came off the bench to earn a career-high 34 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the floor. His previous career high of 32 points was set on Oct. 29, 2022, and his previous season high came just one week ago on Dec. 11 (30 points at Detroit).
Noteworthy
- The Pacers were without center Myles Turner due to bilateral hamstring soreness. He was replaced in the starting lineup by Isaiah Jackson.
- After missing Saturday’s game versus Minnesota with a bruised knee, guard Tyrese Haliburton was back in action tonight.
Up Next
The Pacers welcome Gordon Hayward and the Charlotte Hornets to Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Dec. 20 at 7:00 PM ET.
Originally posted on pacers.com