Jamal Murray and a 22-3 run sink Pacers vs Nuggets, and everyone

INDIANAPOLIS – If you've read one story about a game played by the Indiana Pacers this season, then you've read this one. The specifics are different, but the generalities are the same. And those repetitions are what make these Pacers losses so puzzling.

The why is clear. The Pacers can't avoid dreadful runs of play – they have a five-to-eight minute stretch every game that goes so poorly it decides the result. And the team has struggled with star guards this season – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Donovan Mitchell, and Jamal Murray have all scored over 40 points in a game against the Pacers this season, with two of them reaching over 50. That doesn't even account for 30+ point outings for Lauri Markkanen, Jalen Duren, Julius Randle, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Michael Porter Jr., Nikola Jokic, and Devin Booker.

You get the picture. A lot of games feel the same. On Wednesday, the Pacers played the Nuggets and ran into those problems. The run happened at the end of the first half. Before it started, it actually felt like the Pacers had momentum.

Circle City Spin

The Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever, up close

Circle City SpinTony East

Denver led 48-39 before a quick 6-2 burst from the Pacers, with Andrew Nembhard and Pascal Siakam scoring all six points. With those two humming, the Pacers are typically competitive. In the middle of that run, Siakam subbed out of the game for Jarace Walker and Murray entered for Tim Hardaway Jr.

A mid-range jumper from Nembhard changed the score to 50-45 in favor of Denver. There were five minutes until halftime. In that instant, the game flipped. After a strong 19 minutes to open the first half, the Pacers conceded a 22-3 run and were down by 24 points at the break.

Yuck. It just keeps happening to them. Siakam and a few others re-entered the game with 3:09 to go in the second frame. They couldn't stop the avalanche. Regardless of who was on the floor, the Pacers were helpless. They've got to get these runs under control.

"It seemed like they were scoring a lot. Easy buckets. And we were getting tough shots, we weren't really getting good ones." Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard said. "Tough stretch."

The Pacers played pretty well the rest of the game. They outscored the Nuggets 72-63 in the second half, and that made their five-minute collapse look even worse. In that stretch, it was 22-3 Nuggets. Across the other 43 minutes of the game, the scoreboard was 117-113 in favor of the Pacers. Yes, the Pacers were the better team for 43 minutes of a 48-minute game they lost by 15.

72 second half points from the Pacers was encouraging – they made nearly 60% of their shots and had just five turnovers. That contributed to a final box score that showed the Pacers with a field goal percentage of 51.9% and a three-point percentage of 46.4%. That's their third-best shooting percentage and best three-point percentage in a game all year.

Yet they couldn't mount a comeback because of Maple Curry. Murray was sensational, scoring 52 points by hitting shot after shot. He answered every Pacers run and continuously swung the game back toward the Nuggets.

He was unstoppable, scoring the second-most points by a Pacers opponent this season (Gilgeous-Alexander had 55 on opening night, though it took him two overtimes to do it). Murray finished 10/11 from deep and 19/25 on all shots.

"Murray was phenomenal. He's a very underrated player," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said postgame. "Him playing with Jokic makes it even harder. A lot of the shots he hit tonight were off-the-dribble threes off of one-on-one moves. Very difficult. Tip your hat to that performance."

50-plus points with just four made free throws is what the hell level stuff. That was the 31st time in NBA history that it's happened (amazingly, Murray did it before back in 2021). The only Pacer to ever do it was T.J. Warren in his famous bubble game. Murray joined Chris Webber (2oo1) and Tyrese Maxey (2023) as the only Pacers opponents to accomplish the feat.

It's puzzling that the same concerns keep sinking to the Pacers. I don't even mean to say that any one person is doing something wrong. Most of the players who bury them with sensational performances are stars, the best of the best who are often terrific. The damaging runs the Pacers keep conceding happen at different moments in almost every game (it used to be a third quarter problem when the bench struggled) or with different players on the floor. There is no central figure or moment.

But they are trends, and they need to be solved as the Pacers look to find some life again.

Other notes from Pacers-Nuggets

Welcome back, Johnny Furphy

For the first time in exactly one month, young wing Johnny Furphy was back on the court for the Pacers. A left ankle sprain had kept Furphy on the shelf since November 3.

But he recently had a practice with the Noblesville Boom, and Wednesday he was finally ready to go for game action. It's great news for the Pacers. He is among the team's more frustrating injuries – Furphy can be productive, but in a 4-18 season he is the exact type of young player the team should want on the floor, and often. Yet the recent second rounder entered Pacers-Nuggets with just three appearances this season.

Furphy explained pregame that a combination of testing his ankle in game scenarios and pain tolerance was the final hurdle he had to clear. He was looking forward to competing after so much time on the bench. "It's very exciting. It's been a long rehab process, longer than I anticipated," Furphy said pregame. "It's been a lot of tests, a lot of different things... I'm confident that I'm ready to go."

He played 16:23 against Denver and didn't leave the game with any injuries or issues, which is great news for the Pacers. What isn't great news is that his production was quiet. The 2024 second-round pick finished with two rebounds, one foul, and one turnover as his only logged stats. He didn't attempt a shot.

Quiet is fine for now. Furphy is recovering and played his fourth game of the season and 54th ever. But the Pacers will hope to see some growth from the Australian wing in the next few weeks.

Ben Sheppard and Garrison Mathews pop

Are first 10-day contract Garrison Mathews and second 10-day contract Garrison Mathews even the same player? The veteran wing has been significantly more effective on his second deal than his first one, a trend that continued in Pacers-Nuggets.

Matews had nine points on 2/13 shooting – all on threes – during his first 10-day pact in total. After scoring nine against Denver, he has 24 points on his second hardship contract in just two games. He's 6/7 from the field in his last two games with some decent defensive reps to boot.

Mathews, notably, attempted (and made!) two shots from inside the arc against the Nuggets. He's getting comfortable and showing the offensive skills that made the Pacers sign him in the first place. He's worth keeping an eye on, both because he's playing well and because he took Jeremiah Robinson-Earl's spot in the rotation on Wednesday (though the Nuggets did play zone, which makes Mathews' shooting more important). Robinson-Earl is on a non-guaranteed two-year pact right now.

Ben Sheppard, meanwhile, is finally rounding into form. The third-year guard finished with 14 points against Denver without missing a shot (5/5 from the field) and also added five rebounds, two assists, and two steals. He was very productive, and the Pacers outscored the Nuggets in his minutes.

"Yeah. Just staying in the gym. Just stepping into every shot with confidence," Sheppard said postgame when asked if he's starting to find his game. He explained that he, because of the ebbs and flows of the season, doesn't know where his shots are going to come from every night. That variation is a challenge, but his confidence is rising after seeing a few shots drop. "I think it helps once you see one go in. I know I can shoot the ball," he said.

After a dreadful shooting start, Sheppard appears to finally be rounding into form. Through 17 games, Sheppard shot 19.4% from deep, a number so bad it almost looks fake. He's been below average in his first two NBA seasons but much better than that.

Since then, he's been far more effective. In his last five outings, the Belmont product and former first-round pick is shooting 13/23 from the field (56.5%), 10/17 from deep (58.8%), and is averaging 7.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game. That's the production the Pacers hoped would show up more often this season from Sheppard.

"I love playing with Shepp," Nembhard said postgame. "He moves really well. Plays with a lot of energy. Fun to be around."

The surge is good news for the Pacers. Bad news: he's injured. Of course he is for this team. Sheppard is listed as out for Pacers-Bulls on Friday with a left calf strain, and he missed time in the preseason with a calf strain, too. We'll find out more about the severity later today, but calf injuries are very rarely single-game absences.

Sheppard and the Pacers will hope it's short after the young guard was finally showing something. And the upcoming NBA Cup break may limit the number of games Sheppard misses. The team could use him if they are ever going to shut down star guards or slow down opposing runs.

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