Three takeaways as Indiana Pacers stun Milwaukee Bucks behind hot shooting night
It's hard to imagine a worse start for the Indiana Pacers than the one they had on Thursday night against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Pacers took two timeouts to regroup in the first 4:28 of action as the Bucks jumped out to a 16-5 lead. Milwaukee was dominating while Indiana looked stale. The blue and gold were missing key players, but even given the injuries they had, their start was brutal.
The Pacers did recover, though, and in a major way. They cut the lead down as low as five later in the quarter, and Indiana ended up tying the game in the second quarter. Despite the atrocious start, the Pacers showed that through a combination of generating good threes and funky zone defenses, they could hang with the Bucks.
"I think our offense. We started attacking and scoring a little bit more," assistant coach Ronald Nored said on the Bally Sports Indiana broadcast at halftime when discussing the keys to the Pacers comeback. He noted how important it would be for Indiana to be solid defensively when defending MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Bucks still led by nine at halftime, though it was in large part thanks to their strong start. The Pacers would need a better second half to get a win.
The third quarter was about as great as it could have possibly been for the blue and gold. They scored 49 points while holding the home team to 37 (a large number, but less than they scored) to take the lead. Three point shots were falling, and the Pacers offense was humming.
That continued in the fourth. Indiana couldn't miss from deep, and Milwaukee quite literally couldn't keep up. At one point, the Pacers led by as much as 18 against the team with the best record in the NBA. They looked great.
In the end, the Pacers won 139-123. It was one of their most impressive wins of the season, especially when considering that Tyrese Haliburton didn't play. They knocked down 22 three-point shots.
The Pacers improved to 32-38, which puts them 0.5 games out of the play-in tournament. This is a game to build off of if the Pacers want to ultimately reach the play-in. There are many takeaways from an impressive outing like this, but three big ones stand out.
Andrew Nembhard was effective
Rookie guard Andrew Nembhard started at point guard with Tyrese Haliburton sidelined, and he shined with the opportunity. It was his third game in a row starting at the point guard spot, and he controlled the game.
The floor general finished with 24 points and five assists, and he shot 10/21 from the field. He had just three points at halftime but completely turned the game on its head in the second half.
"Coach just kept telling me get downhill," Nembhard said on the Bally Sports Indiana broadcast when asked about his halftime adjustments. Head coach Rick Carlisle noted postgame that said adjustments were huge.
Nembhard canned four threes and was massive in the second half. The Pacers don't win this game without him, and he will be needed going forward until Haliburton returns.
Three-point shooting was the difference
The Pacers knocked down 22 threes in this game, which is tied for their second most in a single game this season. They are 3-1 when they make at least 22 threes in a game.
Nembhard made four. Ex-Buck George Hill made three, as did Buddy Hield. Young wing Aaron Nesmith knocked down six. It was a total team effort as everybody shot the ball well from deep, Indiana was 22/46 (47.8%) from outside the arc.
The Bucks, meanwhile, only canned 11 threes. They rank fourth in the NBA with an average of 14.8 makes per game, but the Pacers made 11 more than them in this game. That's a 33-point difference, and it carried the blue and gold.
Indiana found a way to win without Tyrese Haliburton
The Pacers were 3-12 entering this game when Tyrese Haliburton was sidelined this season, but they found a way to get another win without him.
Indiana had 36 assists in this battle, a season-high. Their offense looked great without their All-Star, which has been rare this campaign. In the other three wins without him, the Pacers had 26, 24, and 24 assists. This was an impressive change of pace.
Everybody contributed and held the team together. For a group that has needed so much from one player this season, it was jarring to see the Pacers take down such a formidable foe without Haliburton. But they got it done.
That was game number 70 for the Pacers, meaning they have just one dozen to go. They next play on Saturday when they host the Philadelphia 76ers.
- Andrew Nembhard got valuable point guard reps with Tyrese Haliburton and T.J. McConnell sidelined. CLICK HERE.
- George Hill is finding his place on the Indiana Pacers one month after being traded to the team. CLICK HERE.
- Jordan Nwora returns to Milwaukee while working to become a more well-rounded player for the Indiana Pacers. CLICK HERE.
- James Johnson returns to the Indiana Pacers rotation, gets the game ball from his son. CLICK HERE.
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