Indiana Pacers Begin Season With Come From Behind Win

1. First Quarter

Entering tonight’s season opener, the Indiana Pacers were only without Isaiah Jackson who is dealing with a groin injury. During the preseason, Indiana got off to slow starts and they would do so tonight. Tim Hardaway Jr. was responsible for the first basket of a game with a triple. Indiana’s first basket was scored by Andrew Nembhard within the three-point line. Jalen Duren gave Detroit its largest lead in the quarter at 12-4 with 8:15 left. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout and then his team would score eight straight points to tie it at a dozen with Pascal Siakam scoring three points and Aaron Nesmith scoring five points. Siakam would eventually give the Pacers their first lead with a three pointer to put the team on a 11-2 run. The Pistons eventually tied the game at 22 before closing the final 2:06 by outscoring the Pacers 9-3 to lead 31-25. Malik Beasley and Aaron Nesmith led all scorers with seven points in the quarter followed by four players with six points. Indiana shot 2/8 from distance in the quarter and were outrebounded by four.

2. Second Quarter

Quarter two started with Indiana and Detroit exchanging baskets after Bennedict Mathurin started the period with a three. A T.J. McConnell pullup jumper with 9:24 left in the half would bring Indiana within one and then a Jarace Walker three would do the same a minute later. The Pistons would then push its lead back to six points. Eventually, Tyrese Haliburton’s second field goal of the half would cut Indiana’s deficit to 52-47 with 2:21 left. However, Detroit would score six straight points to take the first double-digit lead of the game. Jalen Duren’s alley oop dunk with 53.3 seconds left forced Rick Carlisle to take another timeout. His team would get a field goal from Nembhard in the final seconds to trail 58-49 at halftime. Tobias Harris led all scorers with 13 points. Indiana’s leading scorers were Siakam and Nembhard with 8 points. In the first half, Indiana shot 4/16 from deep. Haliburton went 2/10 from the field and 0/5 from distance.

3. Third Quarter

With the starters struggling mightily in the first half, it felt like a matter of time until the Pacers started looking like the team we saw last year. Myles Turner was the answer for the Pacers. He scored fourteen of the first sixteen points for the team in the second half. Indiana went from down twelve to down five with 9:19 left. As for the Pistons, Cade Cunningham was matching Turner nearly point-for-point. He put his team back up nine immediately after Turner trim the Pacers deficit to five. A Haliburton dunk jolted some energy within the Pacers because his team was down 75-69 and then went ahead 76-75. He also had the field goal that put the Pacers ahead for the time being. Cunningham would not let that lead last long because he scored five more points to put Detroit ahead 80-78. Enrique Freeman’s first points of the season put the Pacers ahead 78-75 with 3:11 left. However, Detroit would close the quarter out well by outscoring Indiana 12-5 to lead 90-82 after thirty-six minutes. Cunningham’s 18 points in the quarter elevated him to the leading scorer in the game with 24 points. Turner led Indiana with 20 points in the period.

4. Fourth Quarter

Indiana’s bench at the start of the fourth quarter did a terrific job at making sure Detroit did not push its lead to double-digits. After falling behind 95-87, Indiana got back-to-back buckets from McConnell to cut the deficit in half. With 8:19 left in the game, Mathurin made it a one point game by knocking down a technical foul free throw. On the immediate possession following that, Haliburton got to the goal for a layup to put Indiana ahead 99-98. Cunningham would answer with a field goal to put Detroit back on top. Mathurin then knocked down a field goal and then Siakam converted a fadeaway mid-range jumper to put Indiana ahead 103-100 with 3:41 remaining. Jaden Ivey countered with a field goal and then Mathurin delivered a three followed by another Siakam field goal that took the energy out of the arena. Indiana was ahead 108-102 with 2:29 left in the game. Detroit had one final run in them to trail 110-107 with 42.5 seconds left. In the final seconds of the shot clock, Indiana’s ball movement allowed Haliburton to get open and drill his first three of the game on his ninth attempt to put Indiana ahead by six with 20.8 seconds left. Indiana would go on to win 115-109.

5. Top Performers

Myles Turner (20p, 9r, 4a, 4b), Pascal Siakam (19p, 9a, 8r, 2s), Bennedict Mathurin (19p, 6r), Tyrese Haliburton (15p, 5r, 4a, 3a, 2b), and T.J. McConnell (14p). For Detroit, Cade Cunningham (28p, 8a, 5r), Jalen Duren (13p, 13r, 4a), Jaden Ivey (17p, 5r, 4a), Tim Hardaway Jr. (14p), Malik Beasley (14p), and Tobias Harris (13p). For tonight’s full box score, click here.

6. Notes

• Indiana has now won back-to-back season openers
• Last season, Indiana held its opponents under 110 points 10 times. They were 8-2
• Pascal Siakam now has over 2,000 career assists
• Enrique Freeman registered his first career NBA points with two free throws in the third quarter
• Through the first three quarters, Detroit shot 48% and then shot 25% in the fourth quarter
• Pacers only led for 12 minutes
• Pacers are now 8-21 when Tyrese Haliburton shoots 33% or worse in his Pacers career
• Tyrese Haliburton’s 4 assists would have tied a season low a year ago when playing 30+ minutes
• Jarace Walker played 7 minutes in the first half and then Ben Sheppard played 6 minutes in the second half
• 14 of Bennedict Mathurin’s 19 points came in the fourth quarter
• James Wiseman left the game after playing 4:38 with a calf injury

7. Next Up

The Indiana Pacers will travel to New York to take on the Knicks in their home opener. New York is coming off a 132-109 loss to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night. Pat Boylan will get things started with the Pregame Show at 7pm. Mark Boyle and Eddie Gill will have the play-by-play beginning at 7:30pm on 93.5/107.5 The Fan.