Sublime offense guides Pacers to win vs Heat, Jay Huff talks missed foul shots
The Pacers won a home game for the first time since January.
INDIANAPOLIS – When Micah Potter checked in for the Pacers in their battle against the Miami Heat on Sunday, the team was flustered. Pascal Siakam had already committed two fouls and was headed to the bench. Less than one minute later, the Heat would take a six-point lead. The Pacers were scoring a point per minute. They needed a spark.
Fortunately, the big man who checked in would become that spark. Potter, after missing his first shot and losing two turnovers not long after checking in, became the Pacers catalyst for their best offensive night of the season. It started just under halfway through the opening frame when Potter drilled a three-point shot set up by a Kobe Brown pass.
Less than two minutes later, Potter was on target from the same spot. The Pacers were down just one after that, and the Heat took a timeout. Tyler Herro made a three, Potter answered again. 74 seconds later, Potter dunked. The Pacers were up three. They scored 26 points in just under seven minutes, and Potter's explosion is what ignited the team.
"I've known he's capable of that," Jay Huff, who has been friends with Potter for years, said. "He barely hit the rim. It was all net in the first half."
Tony East
Potter scored 14 points in the first quarter and reached halftime with 19 points and four rebounds. The last two times that Miami has come to Indianapolis, the Pacers opted to start Siakam at center and use Potter as his primary backup. Those two provide the right speed, size, and shooting combination that works against the Heat's pack-the-paint and adjust style.
While Potter propelled the Pacers back into the game with his own brilliant start to the proceedings, the bench unit in general was fantastic. T.J. McConnell probed into the paint often, a necessary task against Miami, and found his way to four made two-point field goals as well as nine assists.
Importantly, he drilled two outside shots in the opening period and finished the game with a season-high in made triples. Kobe Brown joined the party – he knocked down a trio of threes against the Heat, matching his career high.
The Pacers had to work to generate the open shots that they did. But they made them, and 10 combined threes from McConnell, Brown, and Potter meant that there was never a drop off for the team on offense. The bench couldn't miss. The starters were guided by Siakam and Andrew Nembhard.
"Paint touches were a big part of it. Micah helped spark [things] early on with those threes and everything he did," Brown said "So that was big for us... Getting into the paint, drawing the defense and kicking out, that was pretty much the biggest thing for us."
Potter entered the starting lineup the second half after his fantastic opening quarter. Miami, who couldn't slow the Pacers at all, tried many different coverages and zone defenses as a result. That drew the attention of Huff postgame, who had a big smile when describing the increased attention Potter got from the Heat in the second half. He hardly touched the ball.
That, ironically, led to more minutes for Huff himself. He played the final 16:08 of the game and was +17 in... a 17-point win. The Pacers frontcourt was generally fantastic on Sunday, and it all started with Potter.
It all ended, like it usually does, with Siakam. The All-Star forward had 12 points and nine rebounds in just the second half as the Pacers ran away with the game. Their defense improved in the fourth quarter, too, holding the Heat to just 11 points. Siakam finished the outing with a double-double: 30 points and 11 rebounds.
The Pacers scored 135 points to the Heat's 118. 135 is the most points the Pacers have scored in regulation this season – their offense was fantastic with 53 made shots, good accuracy, and just 11 turnovers.
"I thought we played with good tempo. The ball moved. When we got threes, they were in rhythm. They were off of aggressive paint attacks and other things," head coach Rick Carlisle said. "When you are able to play downhill and get the ball into the paint, your three-point shots have a lot better chance to go in."
And it was win number 17 for the Pacers. They are now tied, once again, for the fewest wins in the league instead of sitting in outright last. Their lottery odds are the same, but they are closer to the fourth-worst team than they were before Sunday. And yet, to Siakam and the team, winning this game at home was significant.
Pascal Siakam explains the meaning of a win
Entering this game, the Pacers had lost 11 consecutive home games. That's a lot. Their second-most recent home win came in January, before the All-Star break. It had been a while.
Several Pacers players discussed the meaning of a victory for the fans who have been dedicated all season. Despite the team holding the worst record for much of the campaign, Gainbridge Fieldhouse has only felt light on cheering fans when the weather made travel dangerous. Other than that, the last-placed group has been supported well.
That means a lot to all of the players, something made clear postgame. With such little time left in a rough season filled with losing, it would be easy for players to look toward the finish line. The incentives are there to lose and next year should be better. Right?
Not exactly. I asked Siakam two questions postgame that got to the heart of this issue. He articulated the emotions very well, so I'll post the questions, and answers, in full.
Me: Even in what you just called a rough year, you could see the end very soon, seven games away And yet you guys are really going for it now. You've won two games in a week. What does that say about this team? And especially when you guys could be right back to it next year?
Siakam: I think we're going to learn. We're going to learn a lot. And I hope we learn from this season just the tough lessons every single day, understanding what it takes to win. Not to say that we took it for granted because I know it's been okay here. But for the past couple years I've been here, it's been a lot of winning, it's been a lot of success. And I think sometimes it can feel like it's almost like normal that it happens. But those things are not normal. And to be able to win, you've got to be consistent as a team. It's every single quarter, it's every single possession, everything matters. And I think that when you go through a season like this, you understand the value of that. Like, winning, how important that is, and being together. And I just hope that we really, really learn from this. And it'll be easy to just think that we'll be back next year, we're gonna have our guys. That's not guaranteed either. So we've gotta have that mindset. Everyone's gotta really, really work hard so that we can come back and remember how this felt and not want to feel that again. And I think that's what's going to take us into next year. And that should be our focus and our mindset. And I'm going to keep preaching to the guys, we're just not going to flip the switch. It's not going to happen. We're going to have to really continue to fight for who we are as a team, continue to fight for Pacer basketball, our identity, and we're going to have to get it back. And it's going to be rough. It's going to be hard to do it. But I think the guys in the locker room, I can see that we all want to get back to that. This is not fun for any of us. And it's going to be a really good summer for us to get better.
Me: Has there ever been a point this year where you or anybody has been like, 'Okay, it should just be one year of this?' Or do you feel like people have responded to what you just said, the fact that it might not be the case?
Siakam: I think there's been a lot of good responses from everyone, from the guys. You're going to see flashes of people just having really good games, really locking into the details of what we want to do offensively and defensively. And I think we understand that, but I'm going to keep preaching it and make sure that we don't forget.
It matters to this group that they've felt support from fans as they keep losing, even when many of the fans understand the situation and are rooting for losses. But Siakam's perspective was noteworthy.
Jay Huff discusses his missed foul shots against the Clippers
Two games ago, Huff went to the foul line with 0.3 on the clock and the Pacers down by one. He had two chances coming... and he missed both.
The Clippers escaped with a win. Pacer teammates were supportive of Huff after the misses, but he was clearly upset with himself. He has knocked down over 80% of his shots from the foul line this season.
Note — the above video is a postgame video after the Heat win and does not feature the questions you'll read about below
Before Pacers vs Heat, Huff discussed the moment. He acknowledged that those were the highest pressure free throws he's ever taken in his basketball career.
"It's tough. You always know there's a possibility of being in that situation. Didn't expect it," he began. "It's tough. Wish I would have made them. It's frustrating because you want that opportunity in some ways, but on the other hand it's tough."
Many Pacers and Clippers players came over immediately after the misses to offer encouragement. That was meaningful, but Huff still looked crushed in the moment. "They were all super supportive," Huff said. "They could tell that I was really, really frustrated... Everybody was supportive."
Huff acknowledged that the situation was made easier by the fact that the Pacers played another game quickly. He was able to focus on something else. He took free throws during shootaround before Pacers-Heat, then again during his pregame warmup slot Sunday afternoon.
"Now that I've been in that situation before, it'll feel different next time when the opportunity arises," Huff said.
He didn't take any free throws against Miami. But he played well and his team won. That's a solid bounce back.
Thank you for reading. I'll be at two of the Pacers remaining four road games plus all three of their home games left. Subscribe to have stories from each of them sent directly to your inbox.
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