What the Indiana Pacers accomplished in their first weekend without Tyrese Haliburton
The Indiana Pacers hit the road last weekend to kick off a road trip, and they squared off with the Atlanta Hawks and Denver Nuggets. It was the team's first two road games without star point guard Tyrese Haliburton since his hamstring injury.
In many ways, a softer test against a struggling Atlanta team before facing off with the defending champions was the perfect way for Indiana to ease into their six-game trek away from Indianapolis. They had a chance to earn a win against the Hawks before figuring out what their true level needed to be against the Nuggets.
The goals for the Pacers without their star are to find a balanced attack and to see what works with different personnel. In that way, they had a valuable weekend despite not going undefeated.
Here's what the Pacers accomplished, and learned, in the two games.
Creative offensive approach leads to record-setting outing vs Hawks
The Pacers set their franchise record for field goal percentage in a game last Friday, dropping in 67.1% of their shots (53/79) in a win.
It was the first-time ever that the Pacers were over 67% accuracy for a whole game and just the seventh-time ever being over 65%. Prior to 2017, Indiana hadn't shot over 65% in a game since the 1990s. The NBA has changed quite a bit.
What stood out about the Pacers offensive approach in Atlanta was their creativity. Point guard Andrew Nembhard was posting up, something he has rarely done this season, to generate good looks.
The Pacers' cuts were crisp, and they moved the ball well. Atlanta's defense is poor, but the blue and gold attacked the paint and didn't settle for threes, taking a season-low 18 shots from beyond the arc.
"That was definitely a goal," backup center Isaiah Jackson said during the Bally Sports Indiana broadcast of the game about attacking the rim. "Not settling for threes... I think attacking the paint helped us a lot."
Indiana scored 76 points in the paint and had 41 assists, a nice follow up performance from their 50 assist outing against Atlanta earlier this month.
"We were tied together defensively, that second unit especially," assistant coach Jim Boylen said at halftime during an interview on the aforementioned broadcast. The bench combined for 73 points in the win. Indiana's balance stood out as they got a key win without Haliburton, and their offensive creativity was important.
Aaron Gordon's size provided more problems
Two days later, the Pacers were in the Denver altitude taking on the defending champion Nuggets. It was Bruce Brown's ring night, so emotions were high.
The Pacers battled hard and were within four points with about eight minutes to go, but the Nuggets peak level was just too high. Denver proved impossible to keep up with — their starting five was tremendous.
The reigning champs big three on offense were all effective. Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Michael Porter Jr all had exactly 25 points. That trio typically does well, and Sunday night was no exception.
A fourth Nuggets starter was the difference maker in the game, though. Aaron Gordon was a game-high +17 for Denver, and he made sure the Pacers couldn't steal a win.
On offense, he proved to be an impossible matchup. Indiana didn't have anyone with enough size to contain him besides Obi Toppin, and if Toppin had to cover Gordon, then Peyton Watson or Porter Jr had advantages. The Pacers' difficulties against size is well documented, and Gordon exploited it.
The Nuggets role player extraordinaire also played center for extended stretches due to foul trouble and filled in ably. He was efficient from the field (7/10) and finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds. His impact was the story of the game and once again illustrated Indiana's need for size. Denver won by eight.
As fate would have it, it was also Brown's last game in an Indiana uniform. He's in Toronto now as a part of a trade that helped the Pacers get some size in Pascal Siakam.
Obi Toppin knew his spots
Obi Toppin was perhaps the Pacers most consistent performer over the weekend. Across the two games, he shot 11/12 from the field and contributed 29 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. Indiana outscored their opponent in Toppin's minutes during both games.
As his jumper has improved this season, Toppin's offensive value has climbed. His true shooting percentage sits at nearly 70% this season — he's been a snug fit with the blue and gold.
This past weekend showed why. He knows his spots and can get to them with little resistance. Largely, that happens away from the play, but his improved deceleration helps when he has the ball and wants to fire a jumper.
"We know we're an offensive team," Toppin said after the win in Atlanta on the Bally Sports Indiana broadcast. He, and the team, know that good defensive games are vital as a result.
Toppin said the Pacers are locked in right now, and they've been playing well of late. He is a big part of that with his accuracy, which has been fairly consistent all season. "We love to see each other succeed. We're willing to give up extra passes for better shots," he said of the team. "We just know we've got to come in there, bring energy, and just have fun out there," he added of the bench group.
The four-year pro is averaging 11.6 points and 4.0 rebounds per game this season. He leads the NBA in two-point field goal percentage at 72.1%.
"Having a blast," he said of the team. "We all love each other, we're having fun out there, and we're going to keep doing it."
One day after the weekend ended, the Pacers lost in Utah. They'll look to bounce back in Sacramento tonight, and creativity on offense, a solid Toppin outing, and containing Sacramento's size will all be key.
- Sources: Pascal Siakam traded to Indiana Pacers. CLICK HERE.
- Sources: Tyrese Haliburton will be re-evaluated after Indiana Pacers road trip with Grade 1 hamstring strain. CLICK HERE.
- Indiana Pacers 50-assist night shows how connected the current team is. CLICK HERE.
- Indiana Pacers outclassed by Utah Jazz size and physicality for second-straight loss. CLICK HERE.
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