The Indiana Pacers exploded for 144 points in their latest outing as they picked up a much-needed win over the struggling Charlotte Hornets. With their 144-113 victory, the Pacers snapped a four-game losing skid and moved to 14-12 on the season.
Pacers fans have grown accustomed to high-scoring battles through the first quarter of the season. After all, Indiana’s league-best offensive rating is offset by a bottom-three defensive rating.
Their most recent win saw seven Pacers score double-digit points in front of a Gainbridge Fieldhouse home crowd. Buddy Hield led the way with 25 points on 8/13 shooting from the field and 4/8 shooting from three.
In 25 minutes of play, talented big man Myles Turner returned from a one-game injury absence to drop 18 points on 5/9 shooting. The former Texas Longhorn scored all of his points in the first half. In his on-court interview, Turner praised the Pacers for getting back to their roots on both ends of the floor.
“I think we got back to our roots and our fundamentals tonight,” Turner said. “We were able to put together a great first half of defense and a whole game of it as well.”
As always, Haliburton orchestrated Indy’s offense and set up teammate after teammate for easy baskets. Haliburton finished the contest with 19 points and 13 assists in only 27 minutes of action.
All five Pacers starters played fewer than 30 minutes thanks to the blowout nature of their win. On cue, the Indy bench shined bright with four players scoring in double digits.
Aaron Nesmith led the second unit with his consistent intensity and hustle, along with his 19 points. The former Celtic shot an amazing 6/6 from the field, 4/4 from beyond the arc, and 3/3 from the free throw line. Promising youngster Bennedict Mathurin also performed well, adding 14 points of his own on 5/7 shooting.
Rotational big men Isaiah Jackson and Jalen Smith rounded out the double-digit scoring for Indiana. Both players recorded 10 points in 15 minutes or less. Smith nailed all four of his field goal tries, and Jackson shot 4/7 from the floor.
Like Turner, Smith notched all of his points in the first half. At halftime, the 23-year-old stretch big spoke to Bally Sports Indiana about the excitement of his first game back.
“Happy to put back on a Pacers jersey and happy to be back at Gainbridge,” Smith said. “I’ve been working so hard during this recovery … just working on my game, getting my body back right. At the end of the day, it’s just about confidence.”
Armed with a high-powered offense predicated upon elite ball movement, the Pacers unsurprisingly dropped 37 team assists in an “everybody eats” beatdown. Indiana plays their next game against Ja Morant and the potentially rejuvenated Memphis Grizzlies.
