by Wheat Hotchkiss
Five days after the Lakers outscored Indiana in a 150-145 shootout in Los Angeles, the Pacers got some revenge on Friday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Blue & Gold’s defense stepped up on Friday, stifling the Lakers to their lowest scoring output of the season in a 109-90 victory. Six players and all five starters scored in double figures for the Pacers (42-33) as they snapped the Lakers’ five-game win streak.
Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton led the way. Siakam tallied 22 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists, while Haliburton registered 21 points, eight boards, and eight assists.
Anthony Davis finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds, while LeBron James added 16 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists for the Lakers (41-33).
“Very determined defensive effort, top to bottom,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said after the win. “Really started with our best players. Started with Tyrese and Pascal and Myles (Turner), those guys led the way. I thought Tyrese had a really, really strong game defensively…Tonight we adjusted and did some really good things.
“Really happy for our guys. It’s hard holding this team to 90 after giving up 150 a few nights ago.”
With the victory, Indiana remained in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with seven games remaining in the regular season. The top six teams at the end of the season advance directly to the playoffs, while the teams that finish seventh through 10th must compete for the final two playoff berths in the Play-In Tournament.
“These are all playoff games,” Carlisle said. “They’re fighting for their position in the standings, we are. This is big-time stuff.”
The Pacers led 27-24 after a competitive first quarter that featured nine lead changes and three ties. Aaron Nesmith got the offense going early, scoring seven of Indiana’s first 11 points, while Haliburton also got off to a fast start, registering five points and five assists in the opening frame.
The second unit helped the Blue & Gold create a little separation at the start of the second quarter. T.J. McConnell scored twice and dished out four assists — three to rookie guard Ben Sheppard — as Indiana opened the frame with a 13-9 spurt to stretch the margin to seven.
The hosts maintained the lead until late in the half, when the Lakers briefly tied the game at 47 after Davis’ hook shot with 1:39 remaining capped a 6-0 run by Los Angeles.
But on the other end, Nesmith kicked to Andrew Nembhard for a corner three in front of the Indiana bench. Then after a Davis miss, Siakam scored in transition to make it a five-point game. That’s where the margin remained at the intermission, with Indiana in front, 54-49.
The Pacers were able to stretch the margin in the third quarter. They took a double-digit lead following two Siakam free throws with 6:57 remaining in the frame, then used an 8-0 run a few minutes later to extend the lead to 16 at 83-67.
Siakam had 10 points, four rebounds, and three assists in the quarter. Backup big man Jalen Smith delivered a statement to close the frame when he rejected D’Angelo Russell at the rim, simulaneously sending his shot to the sideline and sending the Pacers into the fourth quarter with an 86-72 lead.
The Lakers got back within single digits early in the final frame, as Austin Reaves knocked down a 3-pointer and Davis converted a three-point play on the visitors’ first two possessions of the quarter.
But from there, the Pacers battled to prevent the Lakers from getting any closer. On one possession with Indiana leading 92-85, Haliburton got switched onto James on the left wing. The four-time MVP called for a post-up against the smaller guard, but Haliburton was able to jump Reaves’ pass and get a steal, triggering a fastbreak where he found Siakam for a layup.
That play wound up being the start of a 12-0 Pacers run, which was capped with another steal and score, this time Nembhard intercepting a James pass and throwing ahead to Siakam, who threw down a right-hand slam that served as the exclamation point on an impressive victory.
With the game in hand in the final minutes, during a timeout the in-arena cameras ran a Snapchat filter on Lakers fans that made it appear as if they were crying, much to the amusement of the home crowd.
“There’s always going to be juice when you play the Lakers,” Haliburton said. “They travel well, the fans go crazy for them. So it’s a big game no matter what.”
McConnell continued his strong play off the bench, scoring 16 points in 19 minutes on 7-of-11 shooting. Nesmith scored 12 points, Nembhard added 10, and Turner finished with 10 points, five rebounds, and two blocks.
Reaves had 16 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists for the Lakers in the loss. Rui Hachimura tallied 14 points.
The Pacers will have two days off before hosting the Nets on Monday. Those two teams will meet again in Brooklyn on Wednesday before Indiana returns to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for games against Oklahoma City and Miami next weekend.
Inside the Numbers
With 42 wins, the Pacers have officially clinched their first winning season since 2019-20, when they went 45-28 in a season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Pacers are now 37-13 on the season when six or more players reach double figures.
Siakam has now surpassed 20 points in 21 of 34 games since joining the Blue & Gold from Toronto in a trade and has accomplished the feat in six of his last seven contests.
Haliburton has reached 20 points 31 times this season, including four of his past six games.
All five Pacers starters had a plus/minus of +14 or better, with Haliburton (+27) and Siakam (+23) leading the way. All five Lakers starters were -12 or worse.
McConnell has scored in double figures in nine straight games, the longest double-digit scoring streak in his nine-year career. He has come off the bench in all nine of those contests.
The Pacers limited the Lakers to 40.7 percent shooting overall and just 5-of-30 (16.7 percent) shooting from 3-point range. Only once this season has a Pacers opponent made fewer threes (the Trail Blazers made just four on Jan. 19 in Portland).
You Can Quote Me on That
“I just thought we did a good job locking in, understanding that we just played them a week ago. Schematically, I thought we just did a good job of locking in to what they did. Doing a good job with AD and LeBron in the post, it’s difficult but I think that (Nesmith) and Myles did a good job of fighting those guys. We were doubling from time-to-time, we just did a good job of rotating and finishing possessions with rebounds.” -Haliburton on the Pacers’ defense
“T.J.’s just a terrific player. He’s aggressive. You dare him to do something, he’s going to do it. He keeps pressure on the rim, he passes the ball, he defends. He does a lot of the physical things that a lot of smaller guards don’t like to do. He gets on screens, he draws offensive fouls. He’s just super valuable.” -Carlisle on McConnell
“Just being really ultra-aggressive. I think he just has a lot of confidence trusting his jumper right now. I wouldn’t say that he’s ever trusted his jumper as an NBA player. I think that that’s really changed things for him.” -Haliburton on McConnell’s scoring off the bench
“Aaron carries the flag when it comes to guarding guys like LeBron James. That body type, we had nobody else. It speaks to his maturity, it speaks to how he’s adjusted his game to fit the way the game’s being officiated now. He puts his body in there, he shows his hands, and he makes it tough. And he just keeps coming.” -Carlisle on Nesmith, who logged 39 minutes primarily guarding James and picked up just one foul
“I think that Aaron is going to be one of the better defenders in our league. He can guard multiple positions one through four. When we played Philly earlier in the year, he had to guard Joel (Embiid) for a little stretch. He’s just doing a great job. He is one of the biggest examples in our league of just knowing your role and excelling in that, while continuing to grow his game at the same time. I think that the more he’s playing, the more his confidence is growing. He’s just a special, special guy. Glad that he’ll be here long-term.” -Haliburton on Nesmith’s defense
“We just kind of took it kind of personally. They felt like that game was pretty easy for them offensively. We just had a better focus in terms of the things we want to do and how we want to do them. There was just so much more communication and we were more in sync in terms of rotations…The guys responded.” -Siakam on having a better defensive showing after allowing 150 to the Lakers on Sunday
“Having him on our team, just to see how easy it looks for him. He gets to his spots…He knows where to get on the floor and he gets to that every time and the results are always 100 percent every single time. And he plays with so much pace and energy, that’s always needed. I’m glad he’s on my team now.” -Siakam on what’s impressed him about McConnell
Stat of the Night
The Pacers limited the Lakers to 90 points on Friday, both the lowest total by a Pacers opponent this season and the fewest points scored by the Lakers this season. The previous low for a Pacers opponent was 97 by Orlando on March 10, while the Lakers’ previous low was 94 (Nov. 8 at Houston and Nov. 27 at Philadelphia).
Noteworthy
- The Pacers snapped a three-game home losing streak to the Lakers. Their last win over the Lakers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse prior to Friday was on Dec. 17, 2019.
- With the win, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle now has 938 career victories, moving him into a tie with the legendary Red Auerbach for 12th place on the NBA’s all-time wins list.
- Turner was honored prior to the start of Friday’s game, receiving a framed collage from Pacers President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard in honor of the ninth-year center passing Jermaine O’Neal to become the franchise’s all-time leader in blocks on March 22 at Golden State.
Up Next
The Pacers continue their homestand by welcoming Mikal Bridges and the Brooklyn Nets to Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Monday, April 1 at 7:00 PM ET.
Originally posted on pacers.com