What heart displayed again this night by these Pacers! Even in “back-to-back” and still without their leader Tyrese Haliburton, Rick Carlisle's men were still brilliant last night and were rewarded with a perfect victorious hold-up.
Indiana suffered all evening, and notably had to digest Devin Booker's 29 points in the first quarter, including a stunning series of 15 points with three 3-point baskets (31-40). There were then the contributions of Eric Gordon and Kevin Durant, who increased the gap to +17 in favor of Phoenix following two mid-distance baskets (37-54).
But Indiana never gave up and pulled away once again to end up turning the game on the right side. The Pacers first restarted the machine with a 3-pointer and a 2+1 from Jalen Smith then two sequences worthy of a dunk contest from Obi Toppin with a high altitude tap and a “between the legs” dunk in transition. Author of 16 points in the second quarter, Obi Toppin almost kept his own. At -10 at halftime, there was still nothing to reverse the trend but Indiana could at least still believe in it against a devastating Suns armada (70-80).
Andrew Nembhard and Obi Toppin, heroes of the evening
After the break, the return of the locals materialized when the contribution of the Nemhard-Siakam pair and the good passage of Aaron Nesmith combined with the exit due to injury of Bradley Beal made it possible to get back to one possession away ( 100-103).
Under pressure, Phoenix responded by returning to +9 at the end of the third quarter Booker-Allen-Eubanks (105-114). But once again Indiana showed a lot of heart to stay in the game, this time relying on Bennedict Mathurin three times then Pascal Siakam twice to come back to within five points of the Suns (122-127).
In the final, Andrew Nemhard was valuable by scoring three times, first to equalize at 129-129 after Devin Booker's strong pass caused by Aaron Nesmith, then 131-131. After a missed 3-pointer from Kevin Durant, the Pacers did not miss their only opportunity to go ahead thanks to the opportunism of Obi Toppin, present on the offensive rebound to add two more points three seconds from the end ( 133-131).
Author of 62 points, Devin Booker then missed the 3-point victory, leaving Indiana to savor his hold-up!
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– Andrew Nembhard, luxury joker. Tyrese Haliburton's replacement delivered his best game of the season with 22 points on 10/16 shooting and 8 assists for just one lost ball in 30 minutes of play. He especially left his mark on the “money-time” by his great composure like his three baskets which allowed Indiana to find themselves in a position to win.
– Devin Booker’s crazy first quarter. The back got off to an extraordinary start by scoring 29 points in the first quarter! This is the record for a player in a first quarter this season in the NBA. For Devin Booker, this is already the third time this season that he has reached the 20-point mark in the first quarter! Once again, he didn't waste anything with a nice 10/14 shooting, 4/6 from 3 points. In the end, his 62 points were not enough to win… Like his 70 points against the Celtics a few years ago.
– End of series. The Suns remained on seven victories in a row, and the Pacers created the feat of winning without Tyrese Haliburton.
– The Head of Steel by Bradley Beal. The game took an unexpected turn in the third quarter when Devin Booker collided with Aaron Nesmith in the private areas, forcing Rick Carlisle to take a timeout (and a technical). On the next action, Myles Turner took a lead drive in front of Bradley Beal and then involuntarily delivered a huge elbow to his face! Stunned, the Suns fullback immediately returned to the locker room… before returning to the floor! He even took part at the end of the match when the least precaution after such a shock would perhaps have been to take it easy.
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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.
