Indiana Pacers putrid offensive night leads to bad loss against Charlotte Hornets
The Indiana Pacers were in Charlotte to take on the Hornets on Monday night. It was the second game of a short road trip for the Pacers, who are out of town while their home area gets ready for NBA All-Star weekend.
Indiana entered the night 2-1 against Charlotte this season, but these teams both went through changes in the last few weeks with trades and injuries. The past didn't matter much. The Pacers were huge favorites, but the new-look Hornets looked good on Saturday.
To open the game, center Myles Turner scored the first five points for the visitors, which pushed them ahead 5-4. But the Hornets scored on their next possession to take a 7-5 lead, which prompted Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle to take a timeout. It hadn't even been two minutes yet, but he wanted to talk things over.
Turner kept rolling early, he had Indiana's first 11 points. But they weren't getting enough stops and trailed 12-11 at the time. Finally, someone else contributed on offense for the blue and gold as Pascal Siakam scored in the paint to give the Pacers the lead.
When Indiana's lead reached 15-12, Charlotte head coach Steve Clifford took a timeout. Both teams had settled in and had a break. They were hoping to be a little better after the stoppage.
The Pacers held a lead for the next few minutes, but their full bench group struggled and gave that advantage away. Charlotte got hot from deep and hit three in a row, which gave them a 23-21 edge.
The score stayed similar for the final minutes of the quarter. Indiana turned the ball over late in the period and was down 25-24 after 12 minutes. Turner led the team with 13 points.
Period number two opened with more good-enough play from the Hornets. They weren't doing anything exceptional, but it was sufficient to maintain their lead for the first few minutes of the frame.
Charlotte was turning the ball over a ton, which allowed the Pacers to stay in the game despite having an atrocious offensive night. After 16 minutes, they were shooting below 30% from long range and had seven turnovers. They were lucky to only be down five.
Most of Indiana's starters came back in with about 7.5 minutes to go in the half. The blue and gold needed juice on offense in the worst way. They couldn't come all the way back.
That starting group tied the game up at 36 just a few minutes later. The Pacers needed a jolt, and they got it. Star guard Tyrese Haliburton hit the three that knotted up the score — if he gets going, the Pacers are hard to beat.
The Pacers closed the half fine and were ahead 49-48 at the break after Andrew Nembhard hit a shot just before the halftime buzzer. Indiana likely didn't feel good about how they played in the first two quarters, yet they were still ahead at the time. Turner guided his team with 15 points.
The third period opened with back-and-forth play. The two teams traded the lead for a few minutes — neither group could secure momentum. Indiana was cold from the field.
A few outside shots for the Pacers pushed their lead to two with just under eight minutes left in the quarter, and their offense looked more threatening in that moment. They were moving the ball with purpose and creating good looks.
Indiana's offensive surge led to a Hornets timeout with 6:50 left in the frame. Charlotte trailed 64-61 at the time. The lids were finally off of the baskets.
The two teams kept trading buckets for the next few minutes, a theme for almost the entire second half. Indiana couldn't expand their lead despite having most of their starters on the floor around that time. They were up three with 3:39 to go in the quarter.
Charlotte re-claimed the lead with their bench group again late in the period. The hosts had the better second unit for much of the game up until that point. They were up one at the time.
That lead remained as the quarter ended. It was 81-80 Hornets heading into the fourth period. Indiana had no consistency all night, and it was costing them.
The final frame started with Carlisle switching up their bench rotation. They needed a jolt, so Aaron Nesmith and Ben Sheppard were in with the second unit. Their defensive abilities were going to be important.
After two-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter, the Pacers deficit was down to four. They couldn't get enough stops to get back into the lead. Nesmith had a poster dunk to get the team some energy, but it wasn't enough to turn the tide of the game.
Two possessions later, the Pacers were able to tie up the game after a Nembhard jumper. Their starting lineup was back in the game with the exception of Pascal Siakam. That group needed to be great.
Instead, their next stretch was putrid as Charlotte ballooned their lead to six. This game had gone back-and-forth for almost the whole second half, so that 6-0 run felt significant.
With five minutes to go, the Pacers were down by seven. They were running out of time and needed to cut out their sloppy play. Any run, even just a few baskets in a row, could change their fortunes.
They were able to trim the lead down to three, but Charlotte responded and went back up by six. The Pacers' abysmal offensive night continued. It was an ugly night on that end of the floor.
With 2:43 to go, the Hornets went up by eight. They had been far better for the last 15 or so minutes of play and were in control of the game. The hosts were close to wrapping things up.
They held on and closed it out. The Pacers fell to the lowly Hornets 111-102 to fall to 30-25. 102 is Indiana's second-worst scoring night of the season.
Turner finished with 22 points, and Nesmith had 21. Haliburton's night ended with 13 points and 12 assists. Indiana lost this game with poor outside shooting (8/30), awful free throw shooting (10/16) and few offensive rebounds (two).
They will play their final game before the All-Star break on Wednesday when they square off with the Raptors in Toronto.
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