by Jordan Morey
Just seven games remain on the Indiana Pacers’ regular season schedule, but the next couple of contests will pit them against the same opponent twice in three days.
The Pacers (42-33) will host the Brooklyn Nets (29-46) at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Monday before heading to the Empire State on Wednesday to complete their regular season series.
Brooklyn will play on the second leg of a back-to-back on Monday as they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 on Sunday night in New York. The Nets have a record of 4-8 in games with no rest this season, including 1-5 on the road.
Indiana enters its next game coming off a 109-90 win over the Lakers. In the victory, the Pacers gave up their fewest points in a game this season, limiting the Lakers to 40.7 percent shooting (16.7 percent from 3-point range).
The Pacers have won two of their last three games and own a record of 7-3 when coming off two days rest. Gainbridge Fieldhouse has been a tough place to play for visitors this season, as the Pacers own a 22-15 home record.
After going 8-7 in March, the Pacers hope to create extra padding going into the postseason by earning some wins in early April.
As of Saturday night, the Pacers were in sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings, while the Nets were 11th — one spot out of the final Play-In Tournament spot. The Pacers were a game ahead of the Miami Heat and two and a half games ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers for the final automatic playoff berth, while the Nets trailed the 10th-place Atlanta Hawks by a handful of games.
Indiana has relied on its league-leading scoring and a much-improved defense to grind out wins in the latter third of the season. Over their last 10 games, the Pacers have the 13th-best defensive rating of all NBA teams – after ranking at or near the bottom in defense for months – and are giving up 114.6 points per game during that stretch.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle consistently credits forward Aaron Nesmith, center Myles Turner, and guard Andrew Nembhard with drawing challenging defensive assignments throughout the season.
Against the Lakers, Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Tyrese Haliburton logged 21 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. Nesmith drew the assignment of LeBron James, limiting the future Hall-of-Famer to 16 points on 50 percent shooting.
The Pacers are still first in the league in scoring and assists, averaging 122.7 points (46.2 bench points) on a nightly basis and 30.6 dimes.
T.J. McConnell has been solid for the Pacers all season leading the second unit, but his efforts have made a significant difference over the last few weeks. McConnell has scored at least 10 points in nine straight games, the longest streak of double-digit scoring performances in his career.
Brooklyn has struggled to score points this season, averaging 111.1 points per game — 24th in the NBA — but it makes the eighth-most 3-pointers per game (13.6).
Rebounding could prove pivotal, as the Nets are eighth and the Pacers rank 28th on the boards. Indiana has a record of 19-25 when outrebounded by an opponent this season.
Cam Thomas leads the Nets this season with 22.0 points per game, while Mikal Bridges puts up 20.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
Projected Starters
Pacers: G – Tyrese Haliburton, G – Andrew Nembhard, F – Aaron Nesmith, F – Pascal Siakam, C – Myles Turner
Nets: G – Dennis Schroder, G – Cam Thomas, F – Mikal Bridges, F – Dorian Finney-Smith, C – Nic Claxton
Injury Report
Pacers: Bennedict Mathurin – out (right shoulder labral tear)
Nets: Keita Bates-Diop – out (right tibia stress fracture), Cameron Johnson – out (left big toe sprain injury maintenance), Ben Simmons – out (left lower back nerve impingement), Dennis Smith Jr. – out (sore right hip), Dariq Whitehead – out (left shin stress reaction)
Last Meeting
March 16, 2024: The Pacers used a second-half surge to post a convincing 121-100 win over the Nets at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
After a tight first half, with the Pacers leading 58-57, the Blue & Gold limited the Nets to 5-for-18 shooting in the third quarter to take an 86-78 lead. In the fourth quarter, the Pacers blew open the game by scoring 35 points in the final frame.
Pascal Siakam led Indiana with 28 points and 11 rebounds, Aaron Nemsith recorded 16 points, and Tyrese Haliburton posted 14 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
Cam Thomas topped the Nets with 22 points and eight rebounds, and Cameron Johnson collected 15 points and four boards off the bench.
The Pacers shot 47.6 percent from the field to the Nets’ 42.9 percent but were outgained in free throws as the visitors made 24-of-31 attempts to the Blue & Gold’s 15-for-16 from the charity stripe.
Brooklyn won the rebounding margin 50-45 but had 21 turnovers, which resulted in 30 Pacers points.
Noteworthy
Tyrese Haliburton has 682 assists on the season and needs three to pass Don Buse (685 assists in 1976-77) for second place in the franchise’s single season record book. Mark Jackson holds the franchise record with 713 assists in 1997-98.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle currently has 938 career wins, tying him with legendary Red Auerbach for 12th place on the NBA’s all-time wins list.
Indiana would win its season series with Brooklyn by beating the Nets on Monday. The Pacers split games last year and haven’t won a series against the Nets since the 2019-20 season.
Broadcast Information (TV and Radio Listings)
TV: Bally Sports Indiana – Chris Denari (play-by-play), Quinn Buckner (analyst), Jeremiah Johnson (sideline reporter/host)
Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan – Mark Boyle (play-by-play), Eddie Gill (analyst), Pat Boylan (sideline reporter/host)
Originally posted on pacers.com