10 thoughts on the Pacers tough loss to the red hot 76ers
Indiana scratched and clawed their way back into the game, but Maxey's 50-point performance was too much for the Pacers to get over the hump.
The Pacers were on a 3-game winning streak, hoping to get a statement win against the hottest team in the NBA. Philadelphia had won 7-straight games before tonight, thanks to the All-Star level play of last year’s MVP, Joel Embiid, and 4th year guard, Tyrese Maxey, who is the leading favorite for Most Improved this season.
Indiana got down early quick in this one and had to climb uphill for the entirety of the game. There were several occasions in the 2nd half where the Pacers had the opportunity to tie or take the lead but were only able to do so for about 20-seconds in the 4th quarter.
Philadelphia was too solid on the glass and Indiana had no answer for Tyrese Maxey, who scored a career high, 50-points. He was hitting step back three-point shots from way beyond the three-point line and was able to use his speed to get to the hoop. The Pacers did some positive things in this double-digit loss, and they will have an opportunity to play the 76ers again, as they face them on the road, for game 2 of the In-Season Tournament on Tuesday.
Let’s dive into what stood out to me tonight; here are my 10 thoughts:
1). TJ McConnell provides spark
If there is ever a time the Pacers have needed a spark off the bench, Sunday night was the night. Philadelphia was just abusing Indiana's second unit, led by their talented guard, Tyrese Maxey. Rick Carlisle called for TJ McConnell to come in the game and provide a spark that this team desperately needed.
The former 76ers guard did just that. At the end of the first half, McConnell was a team best, +8 and helped the Pacers cut a 19-point lead to 9 by the half. The Pacers were still down by 9-points when McConnell came back into the game in the 3rd quarter, but McConnell helped spearhead another Pacers run. Indiana cut the lead to 1, putting McConnell at a team high, +16. Mcconnell completely dominated in the minutes he was on the floor.
At the end of the game, Philadelphia was able to bring McConnell’s +16 down to a +10 for the night, but that was still the Pacers best plus-minus of anyone on the court. McConnell’s play was terrific, and it provided the Pacers the extra jolt of energy that it needed. The Pacers lose this game by 20-points or more if McConnell doesn’t come in there and turn things around. It will be interesting to see how Coach Carlisle uses him for the Pacers rematch against Philly on Tuesday.
2). Tyrese Haliburton has phenomenal performance in loss
At the end of the game, Haliburton had 25-points, 17-assists and 0-turnovers. He was flawless on the offensive side of the ball; but it was somewhat under the radar as the 76ers had a better individual performance from the other Tyrese.
Haliburton proved once again how special he is, and really helped Indiana close the gap on the 76ers big lead, despite not being able to pull out the victory.
Tyrese Haliburton’s 17 assists led to 45-points for the Pacers.
1st quarter - 6 points
2nd quarter - 6 points
3rd quarter - 23 points
4th quarter - 10 points
He also scored 25-points of his own, making Haliburton responsible for 70 of the Pacers 126-points last night.
According to StatMuse.com, over the last 5-seasons, Haliburton has the most games (4) with 15-assists and 0-turnovers. The only other person to have 15-assists and 0-turnovers in multiples games is Chris Paul, with 3.
There is no denying the special impact that Haliburton has on the Pacers No. 1 ranked offense. This season, Haliburton is shooting; 51.7% from the field, 40.9% from three and 94.8% from the free throw line.
3). Strong third quarter start from the Pacers
Indiana closed the 9-point lead to 2-points in the first 3-minutes and 30-seconds of the 3rd quarter. The Pacers came out playing much faster and more focused defensively.
There were a few sloppy plays in this run, specifically one where Mathurin made a bad decision when Indiana had a 5 on 4 situation. The Pacers had several chances to tie or take the lead but were unable to get the edge and Philly extended the lead back to 9. However, when Indiana went back to their bench to provide some energy they cut back into Philly's lead. At the end of the 3rd quarter the Pacers only trailed by 1.
4). Pacers get dominated on the inside
The 76ers took 15 more shot attempts than the Pacers tonight, and that’s because Indiana was outrebounded 23-8 on the offensive glass and 54-32 for the game. The Pacers were struggling to keep the 76ers from getting 2nd chance points, finishing with 30 for the game compared to the Pacers 10.
In addition to the rebounding and second chance points, Indiana allowed 70-points in the paint. The Pacers managed to score 58-points in the paint themselves but found themselves once again in the negative when comparing their opponents’ stats to theirs.
5). Myles Turner has one of his better games against Joel Embiid
Turner was strong in the 2nd half against Philly after getting out to a slower first half start. He scored 12 of his 22-points in the 3rd quarter, shooting 4-6 from the field and knocking down 2-three-point attempts.
As the game went on, Turner began to play with more force and more confidence. His ability to stretch the floor and open up the paint was pivotal in this game. Embiid usually plays a drop coverage in the pick-and-pop or the pick-and-roll, so involving him in more of those actions will help open Indiana’s offense and will wear Embiid out more.
Avoiding foul trouble was also key here, as Embiid is known to get Turner in foul trouble over the years. As Turner has matured as a player, he’s been able to avoid significant foul trouble, which was something he struggled with for the first handful of years in his career. Improving as rebounder for Tuesday’s game would also help the team have a better chance of winning.
6). Pacers get their first lead in the 4th quarter but can’t hold on for long
They did it. The Pacers took their first lead at 105-104, with nearly 10:45 left to play in the fourth quarter on Aaron Nesmith's jumper in the paint. However, the lead lasted less than 30-seconds. Unfortunately, the 76ers pulled away with an 18-6 run to put a halt to any Pacers comeback.
Indiana exerted so much energy throughout the game, trying to scratch and claw their way back into it. Clearly, the Pacers showed resiliency by eventually taking the lead, but maintaining a lead was going to be difficult with the amount of energy it took to overcome a huge deficit.
Now that the Pacers have found a way to see what works against the 76ers, they can attack that weakness of their game for the In-Season Tournament matchup on Tuesday. Philly will have to make adjustments as well, which we slightly saw in the 4th quarter when they went to a zone defense. Now, Indiana knows that running and playing the game at a faster pace will wear on the 76ers and the style of play they prefer.
7). Efficient scoring night from Obi Toppin; matching up against Tobias Harris
He started the game off with a terrific alley-oop finish on a not-so-great pass from Bruce Brown. Throughout the game he made the right play several times. He cut baseline and Hield found him in the first quarter for an easy two; then he found Hield on the next play in the corner in front of the Pacers bench for a 3-point shot.
Toppin finished the first quarter going 3-3 from the field with 1-rebound and 1-assist. At the end of the 3rd quarter, Toppin went 3-3 from the field again for 7-points. During that quarter he had a gorgeous reverse slam on Joel Embiid and knocked down a three to cut the 76ers 9-point lead.
Also, Toppin’s athleticism was challenging for Tobias Harris to defend and score on. Harris had just 4-points on 2-4 shooting in the 1st quarter, 0-points on 0-4 shooting in the 2nd and 6-points on 3-6 shooting in the 3rd. The Pacers used to get to torched by Harris as they had no bodies that were his size to throw at him defensively. Now that Indiana has an athletic power forward in Toppin, they can use his size to slow down other bigger power forwards who previously took advantage of Indiana’s lack of a modern four.
8). Buddy Hield finds 3-point stroke again
In the first quarter Buddy was involved in 3-straight offensive plays. He had a beautiful pass, finding a cutting Toppin down the baseline. Then, he drilled two three-point shots after that. It was good to see the ball go in the hoop for Buddy after going just 4-23 from distance before that. He wasn't as impactful the rest of the game.
He had some tough stretches in the 2nd half, specifically missing a layup, then the next possession getting blocked by Maxey (don't really think Maxey got the ball on the replay, but they counted it in the stat book nonetheless) on a rare dunk attempt. Buddy came back into the game late in the 4th quarter with the game already decided. That didn’t bother Buddy, as he scored 8-points in the final 83-seconds of the game. Hopefully ending on a strong note will carry over into the next game for Hield.
9). Indiana struggles to slow down Maxey
Tyrese Maxey set a career high in points against the Pacers with 50. He was scoring in multiple ways and Indiana had no answer for him. There were multiple times that the defense did all that it could do, but Maxey would take a step back shot from way beyond the arc and it would drop.
The Pacers will need to try and find new ways to slow him down, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they threw more traps at him on Tuesday. They could also trust their man-to-man defensive scheme and hope that he just doesn’t shoot an absurd percentage from distance.
Bruce Brown will be the primary defender, but I think finding ways to force Maxey to being more of a passer than a scorer will be key. I am eager to see if there are any drastic changes from the Pacers defensive approach on how to stop an elite scorer, especially with another offensive firepower in Embiid on the floor.
10). Aaron Nesmith with another solid showing
It was an uphill battle all game long, but there were three players who were able to have a positive plus-minus in this game: T.J. McConnell, who was a +10, Tyrese Haliburton, who was a +4, and Aaron Nesmith, who was a +2. We’ve already touched on the games that T.J. and Tyrese had, so let’s look at what Nesmith did to impact this game.
Aaron scored just 8-points in this game on (3-6) 50% shooting from the field and (2-5) 40% shooting from three, but he was efficient from the floor and took timely shots without forcing. He also contributed 4-rebounds, 3-assists and 1-steal. Most importantly, he managed to stay out of foul trouble and remain on the floor during the Pacers comeback.
As mentioned above, he made the shot that gave Indiana’s only lead of the night. He defended well, matched McConnell’s level of energy throughout the entirety of the game and had zero turnovers.
Nesmith has been one of the brightest spots of the team this year and his consistency throughout the first ten games has given him more opportunities than he had last season. His play embodies what the Pacers want to be all about, and that’s why he was rewarded with an extension.