by Wheat Hotchkiss
The undermanned Pacers — playing on the second night of a back-to-back — didn’t have enough firepower to keep up with the Sacramento Kings on Friday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Indiana (27-23) turned the ball over 22 times in a 133-122 loss to Sacramento (28-19), the third straight loss for the Blue & Gold this week after they won three straight to close out last week.
The Pacers fell to the Kings despite a productive night from second-year guard Bennedict Mathurin, who led all scorers with 31 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists, and two steals while going 10-for-14 from the field and 9-for-10 from the free throw line.
But four Kings topped 20 points, with former Pacers All-Star big man Domantas Sabonis leading the way with 26 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists and De’Aaron Fox adding 25 points, three assists, and six steals.
“We didn’t do a good job of containment,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. “They got to the paint a lot. They made it their kind of game more than we made it our kind of game.”
The Pacers without their top two centers on Friday, with starter Myles Turner and backup Jalen Smith unavailable due to back spasms. They also took an unorthodox approach with All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, electing to bring him off the bench as they continue to monitor his minutes as he works his way back from a left hamstring strain that sidelined him for 10 of 11 contests.
Haliburton sat out the entire first quarter, but logged 21 minutes over the final three, finishing with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting (1-of-3 from 3-point range), three rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
FIRST QUARTER
Even without Haliburton in the starting lineup, the Pacers’ offense got off to a fast start on Friday night. The Blue & Gold hit 10 of their first 13 shots, with Mathurin scoring eight early points on 4-of-5 shooting.
The hosts hardly cooled off in the opening frame. Buddy Hield came off the bench and scored eight points in the final two minutes of the quarter and Indiana went 17-for-24 (70.8 percent) from the field.
The Kings were nearly as good, however, with De’Aaron Fox’s 11 points pacing a 16-for-24 (66.7 percent) performance.
The Pacers took a 39-38 lead into the second quarter.
SECOND QUARTER
After sitting out the first quarter, Haliburton was on the floor to start the second. He made his first two shots, converting a fadeaway jumper from the right wing at 10:48, then banking in a one-hand runner 34 seconds later.
Sacramento then reeled off 10 unanswered points over the next two minutes to open up a 53-47 lead. Indiana scored the next five points, but the Kings rebutted with another 6-0 spurt.
The visitors remained in front for the remainder of the half. Domantas Sabonis’ layup stretched the lead to 71-60 with 56.8 seconds remaining before halftime, but the Blue and Gold scored the final four points of the half to make it a seven-point game at the intermission.
THIRD QUARTER
The Kings opened the second half with a 7-0 burst as Indiana went scoreless on its first seven possessions of the third quarter.
Pascal Siakam eventually broke the drought with a 3-pointer off a kick out from Mathurin with 8:11 remaining in the frame. Siakam scored seven of Indiana’s first eight points and was the only Pacer to make a field goal in the first eight minutes of the third quarter.
The Blue and Gold went 4-for-14 from the field and committed seven turnovers over the first 10 minutes of the frame.
Sacramento took advantage of Indiana’s offensive struggles, building the lead up as high as 18 points at 96-78 following Malik Monk’s jumper with 1:56 remaining in the quarter.
The Pacers finally found a little life on the offensive end, with Hield converting a layup at 1:40, Haliburton knocking down a three off an offensive rebound at 1:18, and rookie Ben Sheppard drilling a corner three with 36 seconds left.
Trey Lyles’ 3-pointer with 17.6 seconds remaining in the quarter ended that 8-0 run, but on the other end, Haliburton converted a runner just before the buzzer to trim Indiana’s deficit to 99-88 entering the fourth quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER
The visitors opened the final frame with a 7-2 run to push the lead back to 16. The Pacers slowly chipped away at the deficit, pulling back within single digits following Hield’s 3-pointer with 6:02 to play that made it 112-103.
But they were never able to get within two possessions of the lead, as Sabonis, Fox, and company made enough plays down the stretch to thwart any comeback aspirations.
“We’ve just got to have more urgency at the beginning, which we didn’t really have,” Siakam said after the loss. “Too many times where they were out there just getting layups after layups and then we had a lot turnovers. That’s just not us. Pretty tough when we’re playing like that.”
Five Pacers reached double figures in the loss. Siakam finished with 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting, six rebounds, and two steals. Hield tallied 17 points off the bench to go along with four boards, three assists, and two steals, while Isaiah Jackson added 10 points, eight rebounds, and two steals.
Monk registered 23 points off the bench on 9-of-14 shooting, five rebounds, and six assists. Harrison Barnes added 22 points and three steals while going 4-for-7 from 3-point range.
The Pacers will travel to Charlotte on Sunday before returning to Indianapolis next week to host Houston and Golden State, the Blue and Gold’s final two home games before the All-Star break.
“It’s obviously a challenge, a tough time of the year for anybody,” Haliburton said. “It feels like everybody’s just trying to get to All-Star, but we’ve got to do a better job of handling games the right way and finishing going into All-Star the right way. You want to be playing your best basketball and have a good feeling about it when you come back…We’ve got (six) more games until All-Star. (We need to) handle those the right way.”
Inside the Numbers
The Kings shot 56.7 percent from the field and went 13-for-34 (38.2 percent) from 3-point range, while the Pacers shot 54.1 percent and were 10-for-29 (34.5 percent) from beyond the arc.
Mathurin reached 30 points for the fifth time in his career and the third time this season. His 10 free throw attempts matched his season high. He returned to the lineup after missing the previous two games with a right great toe sprain, his first two missed games this season.
Siakam has surpassed 20 points in five of nine games since joining the Pacers from Toronto via trade.
Hield’s 17 points were his most in his last seven games. He had scored three points or fewer in four of his previous six contests and had gone 7-for-25 from 3-point range over that span before going 3-for-8 from beyond the arc on Friday.
Haliburton entered the night leading the NBA in assists at 12.3 per game, but had a season-low one assist against five turnovers on Friday.
You Can Quote Me On That
“It’s something we talked about last night with him. He was in favor of having the ability to finish the game…Tonight it was a shift. Not an easy thing to do, obviously. But being at home, having the ability to use the practice court to stay warm and be ready to jump into the game, those were positives. That was the decision. The is that as we move along here, the minutes levels increase and all this can fade away.” -Carlisle on Haliburton coming off the bench
“The last two games, I felt like if I finished the game, we’d have a better chance to win. Just wanted to figure out what was the best way for me to do that and this is what we came to a conclusion with.” -Haliburton on coming off the bench
“NBA players are men, not machines. As great as Tyrese is with ball security, there’s going to be some nights where it’s rough. Being in a totally different situation starting the second quarter certainly contributes to that.” -Carlisle on Haliburton’s turnovers
“I’m not going to use (the minutes restriction) as an excuse. I just had a poor game. It comes with the territory. It happens throughout the course of 82 (games). You live (with) it, you learn, you move on. I’ve just got to do a better job taking care of the ball. That was the biggest thing. Usually it makes sense we have a lot of assists when I have a lot of assists, so it probably makes sense we have a lot of turnovers when I have a lot of turnovers.” -Haliburton on his performance
“He’s a scorer. My job is to guide him to becoming a winning, championship habits type player that can play with any group, who can find his opportunities to score the ball within the flow of the team. He was really important to us tonight in the beginning because we were struggling and he was the only guy that could get anything going.” -Carlisle on Mathurin
“My shots (were) going in. I wasn’t trying to really force it. I was going pretty well.” -Mathurin on his big offensive night
“I think that balance, that’s where I’ve got really figure when to be really, really assertive and really, really aggressive and when to just kind of blend in with the team. Because at the end of the day, I’m still the All-NBA, All-Star player on the team so I have to be able to find ways to impact the game in that game.” -Siakam on trying to learn how to fit in alongside his new teammates
Stat of the Night
The Pacers’ 22 turnovers on Friday were their second-most in a game this season trailing only their 25 giveaways on Jan. 12 in Atlanta. The Kings outscored Indiana 31-18 in points off turnovers.
Noteworthy
- The Pacers and Kings split the season series, with the road team prevailing in both meetings (Indiana won 126-121 on Jan. 18 in Sacramento).
- Indiana is just 2-8 on the season when playing on the second night of a back-to-back.
- Mathurin surpassed 2,000 career points on Friday, while Jackson reached 1,000 career points.
- McConnell started for the fourth time this season after not playing in the past three games. His missed Sunday’s game against Memphis for personal reasons, was unavailable on Tuesday in Boston due to illness, and was active but did not enter the game on Thursday in New York. He finished with nine points, seven assists, and two steals in 23 minutes on Friday.
- Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith fouled out with 1:46 remaining and finished with six points, four rebounds, and two assists in 27 minutes.
- Colts head coach Shane Steichen “revved up” the crowd at the start of Friday’s game.
Up Next
The Pacers travel to Charlotte to take on Brandon Miller and the Hornets on Sunday, Feb. 4
Originally posted on pacers.com