Indiana Pacers hold on late to take down New Orleans Pelicans on ESPN
The Indiana Pacers hosted the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night in a battle on national television. The game was flexed on to ESPN, marking the first Pacers home game on the network this season.
Both teams are in close standings races to avoid the Play-In Tournament, so every game is important. The Pacers slipped up against Toronto on Monday while the Pelicans dropped a home game against Chicago last week, so both squads were hoping to stay focused going into this outing.
Early, the home team was the better group. Over the first 3.5 minutes, Indiana played excellent defense and held New Orleans to just one made shot. They were swarming ball handlers and getting into passing lanes. It was 9-3 at the time, and the Pelicans took an early timeout.
The break featured a substitution, with Larry Nance Jr entering at center for the Pelicans. That smaller group helped the visitors go on a little bit of a run, and they cut their deficit down to 13-10.
Inidiana regained their footing and found themselves ahead 21-14 after the next few moments. The lineup on the floor featured Tyrese Haliburton and four bench players, and it was a tough group for the Pelicans to contain.
That unit kept rolling and earned a 10-point lead with about three minutes to go in the first quarter. Their play on both ends was terrific and gave the Pelicans fits, especially on the offensive end.
Down the stretch of the frame, Haliburton got rolling. He hit Obi Toppin for two impressive alley-oops, which got the crowd into the action, and the Pacers blew the game open. They were up 40-24 after one period. Myles Turner already had eight points and seven rebounds.
Turner had a terrific block on a Zion Williamson dunk attempt early in the second quarter, and the Pacers were up 20 soon after. Indiana had all the momentum and a whole building behind them. They were playing fantastic basketball.
The Pelicans, led by Williamson for the next few minutes, slowly cut into the lead. They found their footing defensively, which helped spark a mini-comeback. Before Haliburton re-entered the game, New Orleans had cut the Pacers advantage down to 12.
Even with Haliburton back on the floor, the Pelicans kept their energy alive. They slashed the Pacers edge to single digits in the next moments at 57-48. Indiana needed to find its defensive mojo from early in the game.
At halftime, Indiana was ahead 64-53. They were the better team for the final four minutes of the second period, which was important from a confidence perspective after such a crummy stretch in the middle of the frame. Pascal Siakam and Turner both had 12 points at halftime.
The third frame started off with the Pacers playing fast and applying pressure as they extended their lead back to 15 quickly. They had figured something out when it came to breaking down the Pelicans defense.
New Orleans answered with an 8-0 run in just over two minutes, and the game was close again. It was a seven-point Pacers advantage, but their lead had been slowly bleeding for a while now. They needed to find a way to go on a run or they weren't going to be winning for much longer.
They responded with a nice stretch and were up by 10 with 6:33 to go in the third period. Stringing together stops had been a challenge, but they were able to do it for a few minutes in the middle of the quarter.
The lead hovered around that 10 number for the next few minutes, with both teams trading mini bursts. The Pelicans were more consistent during that run, but they weren't able to pull off a full comeback. With three minutes left in the third quarter, the Pacers led 83-76.
Indiana, led by impressive shot making from Bennedict Mathurin, was able to expand that advantage heading into the final frame. Mathurin hit several tough shots to grow the Pacers lead up to 10 at 96-86. He was up to 16 points at the time, as was Siakam.
The fourth quarter began with the Pelicans slashing that advantage down to six quickly. Brandon Ingram was getting wherever he wanted on the floor, and that made it easy for him to knock down shots. The Pacers needed to stabilize.
They responded with a quick 6-0 run to go up by a dozen, and it was capped off by an impressive dunk from Obi Toppin in transition. That slam got the crowd into the game with 8:55 to go, which was huge for the blue and gold.
With six minutes to go, Indiana's advantage was down to a half-dozen points, although Haliburton had just re-entered the game. Indiana had been holding their lead since the first quarter, but they never felt like they had a ton of control in this game. They just needed to hang on for a few more minutes, though.
Williamson returned for the Pelicans with 3.5 minutes to go, and the Pelicans were down by just five points. The Pacers had no momentum and were watching their lead drift away. Time was on their side, but they needed some stops.
They got them. The Pacers strung together a few buckets, combined with some stops, to take a double-digit lead late in the fourth quarter. Haliburton was fantastic in the clutch, knocking down several big shots and throwing perfect passes.
With one minute to go, it was a 10-point game. Despite wobbly play from the end of the first quarter until the end of the night, the Pacers were able to hold on for a win. They made just enough timely plays all night.
When the final buzzer sounded, Indiana was ahead 123-114. They improved to 34-26 with the result, a much-needed win after a crummy game on Monday.
Haliburton finished with 17 points and 13 assists. Siakam had 24 points and 11 rebounds. Turner had a double-double.
The Pacers have a rematch with the Pelicans coming on Friday in New Orleans.
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- Jordan Nwora returns to Indianapolis and reflects on his time with the Indiana Pacers. CLICK HERE.
- One-on-one with Indiana Pacers veteran forward James Johnson. CLICK HERE.
- Big nights from Pascal Siakam and Bennedict Mathurin were not enough as the Indiana Pacers fell to the Toronto Raptors. CLICK HERE.
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