Indiana Pacers pull away late to take down Utah Jazz for second-straight win
The Indiana Pacers hosted the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night. It was the first battle between the two teams this season. The Jazz were looking to end a three-game losing streak while Indiana was looking to get their own win streak going.
It was all Pacers to start things off. After just 100 seconds of action, they led 7-0, and the Jazz had to take an early timeout. The blue and gold were having success in the frontcourt with Walker Kessler out.
The Jazz responded with a quick 12-0 run, though, and it was a game again. Indiana needed a timeout to talk it over. It took less than four minutes of action for both teams to take a break and talk things over.
After each team threw a hard punch early, the game settled down. There were some missed shots and the game went back-and-forth for a few minutes.
Eventually, Utah took control with a run late in the first quarter, getting their lead as high as 10. They made 12 of their first 18 shots to gain an advantage.
The Pacers responded to close the frame and cut into the deficit, and they tied things up after a three-pointer by Bennedict Mathurin just before the buzzer. Myles Turner led the way with nine points early, and Mathurin was close behind with eight.
The game-of-runs style ended as the second quarter got going, with Indiana playing slightly better for the early portion of the quarter. They brought their starting give back in before Utah did.
With five minutes left in the first half, the blue and gold were ahead 48-47. The starters began to slowly expand that lead behind excellent offense from Turner. The Jazz kept switching on defense and ending up with small guys on him, and the big man punished. He spoke one-on-one with AllPacers on Tuesday.
At halftime, the blue and gold were ahead 67-60. Turner had 20 points already, and Aaron Nesmith contributed 12. Tyrese Haliburton had seven assists at the break.
The second half began with a Jazz run that allowed them to take the lead back, but similar to the first quarter, Indiana responded with a run of their own. The "game of runs" saying could not have been more true for much of this duel.
Haliburton finally started to score more, but the Pacers defense wasn't doing enough. They could not stop Utah, and that made it difficult to extend their lead at any point.
Late in the frame, the Jazz finally made them pay for that. A few threes pushed the road team back ahead, though the Pacers once again had answers. After three quarters, it was 101-98 in favor of the home team. Andrew Nembhard closed the quarter strong, and Turner still led the way with 22.
The Pacers started off the fourth quarter with energy on both ends of the floor, but it hardly helped them extend their lead. They were going to have to fight hard for this win.
After making a few substitutions, the Pacers showed that needed-fight. They hit the Jazz with an 8-0 run, a repeat of the game's theme, and extended their lead to 12. With 7:03 to go, they were getting close to being able to put the game away.
Five minutes later, they held a similar advantage at 14. They closed the game well, especially on the defensive end. Given how poor their defense was for much of the game, the closing stretch was impressive.
It wasn't always pretty, but the Pacers held on to win 134-118. They pulled away behind a 33-20 fourth quarter advantage.
Turner, Mathurin, and Nesmith were all over 20 points for the Pacers. Nesmith led the way with 24 while Mathurin and Turner each had 22. Haliburton (16 points and 13 assists) and Jalen Smith (16 points and 11 rebounds) each had a double-double.
Indiana is now 5-3 with three tough games coming. They next take on Milwaukee on Thursday night.
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