Indiana Pacers Fall in Home Opener to Philadelphia 76ers
Source: Justin Casterline / Getty
1. First Quarter
Through two games, the Indiana Pacers have not shot the ball well from three-point range. The early emphasis for Indiana appeared to be getting to the basket because the game started with two Tyrese Haliburton layups and a Pascal Siakam layup. Philadelphia answered with six straight points right after Indiana opened the game with a 6-0 lead. Later in the first quarter, with 5:19 left, Obi Toppin scored a field goal and converted the free throw to put Indiana ahead 14-10. The offense sputtered for a few minutes as the 76ers were able to go on a 13-2 to take a 23-16 advantage with 2:26 remaining in the quarter. The Pacers didn’t make a real run the rest of the quarter and found themselves down 28-23 after twelve minutes. Eric Gordon led all scorers with 7 points. Indiana’s leading scorer was Obi Toppin with 5 points. The Pacers were still inefficient from three, going 2/6 in the quarter.
2. Second Quarter
Indiana’s offense erupted in the second quarter for really the first time this season. As a team, Indiana put up 35 points in the period on 60% shooting. Philly started the quarter by maintaining a two possession lead nearly four minutes before Indiana tied it at 37 following a Haliburton layup with 7:02 remaining in the half. However, Indiana would allow Eric Gordon to score five consecutive points to put the 76ers ahead against his hometown team. The Pacers would tie it up at 42 after a triple from Myles Turner. However, it would not be until Ben Sheppard began an 8-0 run with a triple that gave Indiana its first lead in the quarter. The Pacers went form trailing 45-43 to leading 51-45. With 53.7 seconds left in the half, Turner converted his second three of the quarter to give Indiana its largest lead of the half at 58-49. Philly’s Kyle Lowry hit a three on the 76ers final possession of the half to make it 58-52 at intermission. Haliburton was Indiana’s leading scorer with 10 points followed by Turner with 9 points. Eric Gordon led all scorers with 12 points. Andre Drummond was the leading rebounder with eight. Pascal Siakam and Andrew Nembhard were tied with the most assists in the half with four.
3. Third Quarter
The second half would start with Tyrese Haliburton converting his first three of the game to push Indiana’s lead to a game high of nine points. Philly would chip away slowly and with 9:56 left in the third quarter, a Caleb Martin triple made it 63-61. The Pacers received a layup from Siakam and another three from Haliburton following the Martin three. That is when things turned. Philadelphia went on a 15-1 run to go from down six to up eight with 3:25 left in the quarter. Tyrese Maxey had 11 of those 15 points after accumulating seven points in the first half. Indiana’s second unit responded with eight straight points to tie it up. Unfortunately, the red-hot Maxey ended the quarter with a field goal to put the 76ers ahead 79-78. Maxey scored 14 points in the quarter to become the leading scorer with 21 points. Indiana’s Tyrese was its leading scorer with 16 points, but only had two assists.
4. Fourth Quarter
Much like the third quarter, Philly would rely heavily on their Tyrese. After scoring 14 in the third, he would do it again in the fourth quarter. He started the scoring in the quarter with a step back midrange jumper. The final 11:39 of the quarter would consist of the two teams keeping this game within a possession. In fact, the largest lead following the Maxey field goal would be a three-point lead by the Pacers following a Ben Sheppard three with 9:00 left until the final minutes of regulation. With 1:33 remaining, it appeared Indiana was in line to pick up the win following an Andrew Nembhard bank shot to make it 102-97. Kelly Oubre Jr. followed it with a field goal and then Maxey converted two layups to make it 102-101 with 32.4 seconds left. Indiana would then turn it over on back-to-back possessions, allowing Caleb Martin to give the 76ers a 103-102 advantage and then put the Pacers into a situation where they had to foul. Maxey converted both free throws to make it 105-102 with 11.7 seconds left. Haliburton heaved up a double-clutch three with 3.5 seconds left and got it to fall to tie the game and send it to overtime tied at 105. Through four quarters, Maxey led all scorers with 35 points. Indiana’s leading scorer was Haliburton with 19 points.
5. Overtim
In the first overtime game of the season for both teams, Maxey continued his torrid second half with a three. Indiana would tie it up with a Haliburton three, but that was the only time they would tie the game. Philly would possess the lead for the final 2:03 of overtime once Maxey converted a layup. The Pacers had one chance to take the lead, but it was a missed shot from Andrew Nembhard with 42.4 seconds left. Philly turned to their offense in the second half, Tyrese Maxey, for a layup to put the 76ers ahead 114-111 with 20.7 seconds remaining. Philly would play the foul game the rest of the way. Andrew Nembhard sunk two free throws to make it 114-113. Then Indiana fouled Oubre with 14.7 seconds left. He missed the front end of the two and then made the second. As Haliburton was running up the court, Martin committed a foul on purpose with Indiana in the bonus. In the fourth quarter, Haliburton missed a key technical foul free throw, and then missed the first of two with a chance to tie the game. On the second attempt, he missed on purpose, but Indiana couldn’t grab the rebound. Maxey added two final points to his stat line and made the final score 118-114.
6. Top Performers
Tyrese Maxey (45p, 4r, 4a, 2b), Caleb Martin (17p, 12r), Kelly Oubre (14p, 8r), Eric Gordon (15p), and Andre Drummond (9p, 17r). For Indiana, Tyrese Haliburton (22p, 4r, 2a), Pascal Siakam (17p, 6a, 5r), Obi Toppin (15p, 4r, 2s), Myles Turner (14p, 4r, 4s), Andrew Nembhard (10p, 8a), Aaron Nesmith (10p, 7r), and T.J. McConnell (10, 5r, 4a). For tonight’s box score, click here.
7. Notes
- Tyrese Maxey recorded his sixth career game with 40+ points
- Tyrese Maxey has scored 40+ points twice vs Indiana
- 38 of Tyrese Maxey’s 45 points were scored in the second half plus overtime
- Tyrese Haliburton’s 2 assists are the fewest recorded in a game when playing 30+ minutes in his Pacers career
- Caleb Martin recorded his first double-double of the season, 7th in his career and 2nd against Pacers
- Andre Drummond finished one point shy of recording a double-double
- Andre Drummond has recorded 10+ rebounds against the Pacers 20 times in his career in 44 games
- Indiana shot 67.6% from the free-throw line in the loss
8. Next Up
It is a quick turnaround for the Indiana Pacers as they catch a flight tonight to Orlando to take on the Magic tomorrow night. Last year, Indiana was 3-10 on the second night of a back-to-back. Pat Boylan will get things started at 6:30pm with the Kroger pregame show. Mark Boyle and Eddie Gill will have the play-by-play starting at 7pm on 93.5/107.5 The Fan.
Indiana Pacers Fall in Home Opener to Philadelphia 76ers was originally published on 1075thefan.com
