Indiana continues to cling to the Top 6 of the Eastern Conference with this new success against a diminished Thunder. A success which brings the Pacers closer to the playoffs before facing Miami this Sunday. The match was, however, closely fought and it took an inspired Haliburton-McConnell tandem to take the better.
The Thunder set the tone by lining up a 13-2 fueled by the Giddey-Dort-Holmgren trio, forcing Rick Carlisle to stop the game (13-22). The entry of the “second unit” then put the premises back on the right track, with the Sheppard-Toppin-Smith triplet perfectly served by a TJ McConnell faithful to himself, hyperactive (31-32). The leader continued his work with two baskets then three assists for 3-pointers from Doug McDermott and Ben Sheppard then the dunk from Jalen Smith (47-37).
TJ McConnell, the hyperactive
A few moments later, while OKC had in turn made the right adjustments with its bench players to return to -1 on a 2+1 from Lindy Waters III (47-46), it was Tyrese Haliburton who took the TJ McConnell relay. The Indiana leader distributed three assists for 3-pointers from Andrew Nembhard, Myles Turner twice and Aaron Nesmith (59-47). The two “and-ones” of Pascal Siakam and Jalen Smith, again served by Tyrese Haliburton, then kept the Pacers safe until the break (69-59).
In a match of stragglers, the Thunder players held off an aggressive Pascal Siakam to come back again, up to -2 following a 12-2 marked by 3-pointers from Kenrich Williams and Chet Holmgren (82-80 ). The McConnell-Haliburton duo joined forces to restart the machine, with three assists and four points from the first while the second split two 3-point arrows including one at the buzzer of the third quarter to restore 11 lengths of the lead. advances at Indiana (100-89).
TJ McConnell then made sure to secure the victory by actively participating in a liberating 11-2 (111-93). Aaron Nesmith from afar and Pascal Siakam with a nice dunk on the counter-attack then ended the suspense, allowing the Pacers to win 126-112.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER.
– The impact of TJ McConnell. His +/- of +22 says a lot about his influence on the match. His entry completely revitalized his formation and his passages were very valuable, until the end of the third quarter where he helped to pull his team out of trouble alongside Tyrese Haliburton also in conductor mode. Between them, TJ McConnell and Tyrese Haliburton distributed 21 of the Pacers' 30 assists this night. As aggressive as ever, he made the right choices almost every time. Truly a +++ replacement for Rick Carlisle.
– OKC too shy without Shai. Difficult for the Thunder to adapt to life without their leader Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and one of his main lieutenants, Jalen Williams. Corrected in Boston during the previous match, Mark Daigneault's men were not able to compensate over time even if there were good sequences. You can't replace such a duo like that… and first place in the Western Conference is slipping away.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
