Pacers

Pacers flip their usual script to beat Bulls for third time this season

For once, it was the Pacers opponent producing a dreadful stretch.

The scene just before tipoff of Pacers-Bulls

INDIANAPOLIS – Remember *checks notes* seemingly every Pacers game this season? They typically play well for 40 minutes yet so poorly in the other eight that winning becomes impossible. It's been a frequent occurence. But Wednesday night, in their return home from a week-plus road trip, the Pacers flipped that script again the Bulls.

The Pacers led 10-8 before Matas Buzelis hit a three-point shot about 3.5 minutes into the game. That score is noteworthy because for a while it appeared that it would be the Pacers final lead of the night. The Bulls swatted away every Pacers run and kept their advantage somewhere between one and four possessions for much of the outing.

While Chicago deserves credit for some of their defensive successes, one theme of the Pacers struggles was their inability to make a shot inside the arc. In the first quarter, the hosts were 6/13 from deep and 2/13 on twos. It took a long time for that ratio to get even close to normal, and by halftime the Pacers were 8/22 from deep and 9/25 elsewhere.

"We just didn't really get a rhythm offensively. Like the pace wasn't there. Missed some shots, missed some layups," forward Pascal Siakam said of the team's early offensive struggles.

The Pacers would finish the game 14/29 on shot attempts from four feet and in. It was just the fourth time all season that they made less than 50% of their attempts from in close. That's a frustrating way to play – the Pacers were mostly generating the right shots but couldn't hit them.

"We had some great shots early that didn't go down," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said.

But a combination of good-enough defense, solid three-point shooting, and general caretaking helped the Pacers stay in it. While the Bulls led for almost the entire game, the lead very rarely felt out of reach for the Pacers thanks to their 41.7% from deep and just six turnovers in 48 minutes.

Those numbers are all more than acceptable. And they made it so the Pacers were in position for a comeback late in the game despite not seeing an advantage since 10-8. Even on a night in which they were largely subpar, the Pacers best players believed they could make one more run.

Yet they had been outplayed for the last ~38 minutes. If the Pacers were going to flip the script and use their own dominant seven-minute stretch to win, they were going to have to be nearly perfect.

Guided by their top talents from last season, they were. With 7:59 to go in the game, Aaron Nesmith and Siakam checked back in. One minute later, the scoreboard read 101-87 in favor of Chicago. It was now or never for the lineup of Andrew Nembhard, Nesmith, Johnny Furphy, Siakam, and Huff.

The Pacers would score on their next four possessions, with every point coming from Nembhard or Siakam. Each point came right at the rim or at the foul line. Momentum was shifting, and the Bulls needed a timeout with five minutes left.

Two more possessions with points meant the Pacers scored on six consecutive trips. By the time they missed again, Chicago's lead was just six points.

A few big threes and a Nembhard stepback later, and the Pacers were ahead. From the 6:53 mark to the 0:40 mark of the fourth quarter, the Pacers scored 22 points – an excellent figure. That played a big part in their ability to catch up to Chicago. Carlisle pointed to defensive improvements, too, as that opened up scoring chances.

"I thought we started playing faster," Nesmith said of the late-game offense. "Started making more shots, which forced them to stay home a little bit. Opened driving lanes."

Nesmith was a fitting person to ask about late-game play, because he was the hero in the end. Despite the Pacers holding a two-point edge with 40 seconds left, they were on the wrong end of a Nikola Vucevic banked-in three moments later. Even with their magnificent play in the final seven minutes, they needed one more basket.

Nesmith provided it. He used his strength to get by Bulls guard Coby White on a drive, then a crafty hesitation move to find space around Vucevic for a go-ahead layup. On the other end, he blocked White at the rim to seal the win. Nesmith was fantastic late.

"Yeah, it's always good to make the winning bucket. It always comes back around, so I knew it was coming back eventually," he said, confidently, of his big shot. Nesmith missed two game winners earlier this season.

Siakam, Nembhard, and Nesmith combined for 24 of the Pacers 37 points in the final quarter. The Bulls, as a team, scored 25 in the frame. Those three have emerged with a win in many close games throughout their time in Indiana and did so again on Wednesday. And so, for once, it was a Pacers opponent having the bottom fall out for a short stretch. It led to Indiana's 12th win.

The jumbotron went black down the stretch of Pacers-Bulls

Johnny Furphy's memorable moment

Furphy has been one of the brightest spots in this Pacers season. His defense and rebounding have both proven to be rotation quality, and the young forward closed this game against Chicago thanks to those exact skills.

While the Australian has taken on many tough assignments and gotten countless stops on the less glamorous end of the floor, this game provided his first defensive moment. With less than five seconds left in the game, Furphy found himself matched up with White in isolation.

The speedy Bulls guard took off for the cup, but Furphy stayed on his hip and forced him to veer right of the basket. That made it much, much easier for Nesmith to step up and block White's shot, the final stop the Pacers needed.

Furphy grabbed the rebound, too, then hit both free throws in a high-pressure situation after being intentionally fouled. He was ready for his time.

"He's doing everything he can," Nesmith said of Furphy's defense. "He's guarding top-tier guys for us."

Furphy's only two points of the night were those clutch foul shots. But he chipped in seven boards, and the Pacers won his minutes by two. He's making a case for playing time next season when the team is ready to contend again.

Bennedict Mathurin talks... about a lot

I got to chat with Bennedict Mathurin postgame, and there was a lot to catch up on. He's back on the court after missing three-plus weeks with foot and thumb injuries.

But now, for the first time this season, he's coming off the bench. At halftime of Pacers-Bulls, Carlisle swapped the opening five and put Mathurin on the floor to begin the third quarter. Still, there has been a rotational shift for Mathurin of late.

I encourage you to watch the full video to perfectly capture Mathurin's tone. It's embedded below. But here are the two standout things to note on the basketball front:

On his health right now: "I feel better, man. It's definitely not as much as I would want to be. But I can't be greedy, man. Just seeing progress and super happy with it." More later: "I'm still trying to get back to fully, fully healthy. You know? I think playing is going to help me. It's going to help me because just spending a lot of time away from the game, it's not helping. And I have to get back into the game."

On coming off the bench: "I feel like it's a different game, man. When you adjust to playing, to starting a game, it's a different approach than when you come off the bench. So, like I said, it's kind of weird just to be able to play, start off the bench, and then start the second half. I got in the game, man. I got a chance to play."