by Wheat Hotchkiss
Playing the final stop of a six-game road trip without All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers tried to get it done by committee on Sunday night in Phoenix. Indiana played 11 players for double-digit minutes and got solid contributions from most of them, with six scoring in double figures.
But in the end, the Suns (24-18) simply had too much star power. Phoenix’s “big three” of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal combined for 91 points to lead the hosts to a 117-110 victory over Indiana (24-19).
Durant scored 40 points while going 18-for-25 from the field and 4-for-7 from the 3-point line to go along with nine rebounds and three blocks. Booker added 26 points, six rebounds, and eight assists, while Beal scored 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting, including three key baskets down the stretch to secure the victory.
Buddy Hield led Indiana with 18 points in the loss, going 5-for-8 from 3-point range. Pascal Siakam, playing his second game as a Pacer after being acquired from Toronto in a blockbuster trade on Wednesday, added 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting, four rebounds, and seven assists in 30 minutes of action.
Haliburton, who returned on Friday night in Portland after missing five games with a left hamstring strain, was held out of Sunday’s contest to manage his recovery as he works his way back from injury.
The Pacers trailed by 10 early in the fourth quarter, but rallied with an 11-0 run that culminated with Hield’s 3-pointer that put Indiana in front 105-103 with 3:20 remaining.
That forced a timeout from Suns head coach Frank Vogel. After the break, Durant’s three ended a 4:30 scoring drought and put the Suns back in front. After an Indiana turnover and a scramble for a loose ball, Durant dished to Booker under the basket, where he was fouled by Aaron Nesmith.
Booker made the first free throw, but missed the second. On the other end, Andrew Nembhard drove and was fouled by Beal. The second-year Pacers guard hit both free throws to tie the game with 2:25 to play.
Beal atoned for his mistake, beating Hield off the dribble at the other end and converting a go-ahead floater at 2:11, then drawing an offensive foul on Siakam on the other end.
Beal once again attacked Hield, driving right and converting a right-handed runner to make it a two-possession game with 1:37 to play.
Hield missed a three on the other end, but Booker was whistled for a foul on Nesmith on the rebound. Indiana was in the bonus, so Nesmith headed to the line, but could only convert one of two free throws.
Grayson Allen and Nembhard traded baskets on the next two possessions. Beal then got to the rim once again, driving from the left wing this time and converting to put Phoenix up 115-110 with 45.6 seconds remaining. An Indiana turnover on the next possession sealed the outcome.
“We had chances down the stretch,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. “Defensively it’s just awfully hard to stop their death lineup that they have (Durant) at the five and two other All-Stars (in Booker and Beal) and two other guys that can shoot the ball and make plays. I was disappointed with the result but not the effort and I thought the effort was very good.”
Jalen Smith finished with 15 points off the bench for Indiana, going a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor and 3-for-3 from 3-point range. Obi Toppin added 13 points and six rebounds off the bench, Myles Turner tallied 12 points and two blocks, and rookie forward Jarace Walker had 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting and nine rebounds.
FIRST QUARTER
Coming off a 52-point performance on Friday, Booker scored 12 of Phoenix’s first 22 points on Sunday, including nine during a 17-2 run that gave the hosts a 22-8 lead midway through the first quarter.
After a timeout at the 5:31 mark, the Pacers responded with an 11-2 run of their own over the next 2:18, with Smith hitting two 3-pointers over that span.
The Pacers couldn’t get closer than five for the remainder of the frame and a three by Grayson Allen in the final minute pushed the Suns’ lead to 33-25 after one.
SECOND QUARTER
Indiana quickly surged ahead at the start of the second quarter, scoring nine unanswered points over the first 1:47, taking the lead on Smith’s third three of the night.
The lead was short-lived, as the Suns moved back in front on Beal’s three-point play on the other end. The Pacers managed to tie the game twice minutes later on two massive Toppin slams. But Phoenix eventually surged ahead thanks to Durant, who scored nine straight Suns points over a two-minute span.
The Suns led by 11 following two Beal free throws with 2:28 remaining in the first half. But the Pacers closed the half strong, with Siakam, Nesmith, and Hield each making a three in the final two minutes to trim the deficit to 65-61 at the break.
THIRD QUARTER
Phoenix maintained its lead for the entirety of the third quarter. Durant scored seven points and Booker added six in the frame as the Suns took a 91-83 lead into the fourth quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER
Toppin and Walker helped spark a Pacers rally at the start of the fourth quarter. After a Durant jumper pushed the Suns’ lead to 10 at the start of the quarter, Walker dished to Toppin for a layup on the other end. Walker — the eighth overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft — then knocked down threes on Indiana’s next two possessions before Toppin converted a spinning layup with 9:45 remaining to cut the deficit to 97-93.
Walker then stole the ball from Eric Gordon on the other end, triggering a fast break where Bennedict Mathurin drew a foul. Mathurin hit one of two free throws to make it a three-point game.
But once again, Durant took over, hitting jumpers on Phoenix’s next three possessions to stretch the margin back to nine.
The Pacers came right back, with Hield knocking down his fourth three of the night and then Toppin converting another layup after a Phoenix turnover to cut the deficit to 103-99 with 6:46 to play.
The Blue & Gold kept coming. Nembhard made one of two free throws with 6:29 remaining and then Siakam hit both foul shots at the 6:13 mark to make it a one-point game.
Neither team scored for nearly three minutes, going scoreless for a combined nine consecutive possessions. On the last possession of that stretch, Beal drove but was met at the rim by Siakam, who swatted his shot away. Nesmith corralled the rebound and quickly dished to Nembhard, who found a streaking Hield on the left wing. Hield’s fifth three of the night gave the Pacers the lead with 3:20 remaining.
But Beal and the Suns closed strong down the stretch, outscoring Indiana 14-5 the rest of the way.
“Against a team like that, you got to keep fighting,” Nesmith said. “Keep fighting, keep clawing, keep scratching away, play a full 48 minutes. We did that today, gave ourselves a chance to win. Just came up short.”
Allen was the only other Sun to finish in double figures, tallying 13 points while going 5-for-7 from the field and 3-for-4 from 3-point range. Jusuf Nurkic added four points, 13 rebounds, and four assists, but fouled out in just 19 minutes of action.
The Pacers went 2-4 on their road trip, winning in Atlanta and Sacramento, but falling in Denver, Utah, and Portland in addition to Phoenix.
Indiana will now return home for a four-game homestand that includes rematches with the Nuggets on Tuesday and the Suns on Friday as well as games against Philadelphia on Thursday and Memphis on Sunday.
Inside the Numbers
Hield led the Pacers in scoring for the fourth time this season. He has gone 11-for-19 from 3-point range over his past two games and his five threes on Sunday moved him past Kobe Bryant and Wesley Matthews (both at 1,827 career 3-pointers) and into 23rd place on the NBA’s all-time list. Just midway through his eighth NBA season, Hield now has 1,829 career threes, just one behind 22nd-place Chauncey Billups.
The Pacers outscored Phoenix by 18 points from 3-point range, going 14-for-31 (45.2 percent) while the Suns were just 8-for-25 (32 percent).
After scoring a season-low 14 bench points in Friday’s loss in Portland, the Pacers’ reserves bounced back on Sunday, outscoring Phoenix’s bench, 55-9. Indiana entered the night leading the league in bench points, averaging 49.1 points off the bench per game.
The Suns outscored Indiana 64-48 in points in the paint.
Durant reached 40 points for the third time this season. The NBA’s 10th all-time leading scorer, Durant has 69 40-point games in his career, the 11th-highest total in league history.
Sunday’s game was just the 16th time in NBA history that a player scored 40 or more points without attempting a free throw. Durant became the 14th player to accomplish the feat. Golden State guard Klay Thompson has done it three times, while 13 others including Durant have done it once.
You Can Quote Me On That
“He’s a very resourceful, adaptable player. I can just see that we’ll be able to put him on a lot of different guys, a lot of different positions. He started on Booker in this game. Ended up moving to Durant and other guys. Offensively, we’ve got to get him more acquainted with some of the stuff we’re doing and we’re going to have to add some new stuff that makes sense for his special abilities. Studying that stuff now but there’s everything to like about him.” – Carlisle on what he’s learned from the first two games with Siakam
“Just understanding that on defense there are more concepts. Getting better on those. On offense, just trying to find my spots and just talking to our coaches…It is going to take a little bit but, I just have to keep learning. Again, I have to see the tendencies of the guys and they are going to see mine. I think we will get better.” – Siakam on fitting in with a new team
“Rebounding is something that we’ve asked him to concentrate on and focus on. Tonight, he got nine rebounds from the three position. He didn’t play any four at all tonight. What I’m seeing is that he’s a guy capable of playing at three, he has good size at three. He’s moving his feet and staying in front of people at three. He’s playing with more presence and those things are great to see.” – Carlisle on Walker’s contributions
“He is going to make tough shots. That is just what he does. I think Aaron (Nesmith) did a good job on him. A solid job. He made some tough shots and sometimes it goes like that for those types of players. We just have to continue to try and make it tough on him. I think with everything he did in the game; we had an opportunity to win so, that says a lot about our team.” – Siakam on Durant’s big night
“Pretty much every shot he made. There was only a couple of times where they drove the rim and beat me to the rack. Every time he took a jumper, it was like, I am here, and I did my job. I had a hand in the face. He made it. I tipped my cap and just ran down to the other end.” – Nesmith on Durant’s shot-making
Stat of the Night
The Suns shot 57.3 percent from the field on Sunday — the third-highest field goal percentage by a Pacers opponent this season — while the Pacers converted just 43.6 percent of their shots.
Noteworthy
- The Pacers have dropped five straight games against the Suns, with their last win in the series coming in Phoenix on March 13, 2021.
- Nembhard returned to action on Sunday after missing the previous two games due to a thoracic spine sprain.
- Third-year Pacers center Isaiah Jackson missed his second straight game with a concussion.
- The Pacers have yet to win a game this season in which they scored 110 points or fewer. They are 0-10 in those games.
Originally posted on pacers.com