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INDIANAPOLIS – Returning to the court after a brief Christmas hiatus, the Indiana Pacers had to show they can win in another way on Wednesday night.
The normally stout defensive team didn’t ravel to Atlanta, but the Pacers still left with a victory after winning a shootout.
Behind a balanced scoring effort, Indiana took care of Atlanta, 129-121, in moving to 23-12 on the season.
The Pacers had 8 of their 9 players who saw the floor on Wednesday score in double figures.
“We needed our bench, but I thought both units were good,” Nate McMillan said after the victory. “The first unit was really good both halves. The second unit came out and was able to take the lead and eventually win this game, but it takes both units and I felt like we made some adjustments and adapted in the second half. Defensively we were able to get some stops and offensively get something going towards the basket.”
Tyreke Evans had one of his better games as a Pacer, scoring 17 points (7-of-9 shooting and 4-of-4 from behind the arc) and dishing out 5 assists, with 0 turnovers.
“I thought he was aggressive making plays, made some shots, and defensively he was pretty solid,” McMillan said of Evans, who had missed the previous two games with a knee injury. “We want our guys to be aggressive when they are out there and I thought Tyreke did a good job of attacking.”
In achieving the impressive balance, the Pacers recorded a season-high 35 assists.
Even though Atlanta was the second-worst offensive team in the league coming into Wednesday, they hit 17 three pointers and shot over 50 percent from the field.
But the Pacers erased a three-point halftime deficit in the third quarter for their 11th road win of the season.
Thaddeus Young led Indiana with 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting.
Domantas Sabonis added 19 off the bench. Victor Oladipo had a diverse night with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists.
Three Pacers’ Takeaways:
–Tyreke’s Best Game: It was a notable return to the court for Tyreke Evans after a knee injury had sidelined him for the two previous games. Evans shot it well on Wednesday, scoring 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting and 4-of-4 from behind the arc. But his efficiency when disturbing the ball was even more impressive. Evans had 5 assists and 0 turnovers. Nate McMillan decided to close the game with Evans, something we have not seen hardly at all this season. Evans and Victor Oladipo side-by-side in late-game situations was supposed to be rather common this year, but the inconsistency from Evans hasn’t allowed for that to occur much. Getting this type of effort from Evans is needed for this team reaching its ceiling.
–Winning A Shootout: Through the first couple months of the 2018-19 season, Indiana has relied on stellar defense to keep themselves firmly in the mix for some homecourt in the Eastern Conference. That defense did not travel to Atlanta though, which was surprising considering how much the Hawks have struggled on offense. Having to win in another way is something that the Pacers will inevitably need to do this season. They did that on Wednesday, with a balanced scoring effort and great ball movement. Since Victor Oladipo’s return, the assist numbers have still been at pretty high level, with balanced scoring being a constant.
–Strong Close To The Year: The Pacers have now won 10 of 12 games with their only blemishes coming in poor finishes last week to the Cavs and Raptors. It’s been a tremendous month of December, especially with Victor Oladipo missing the first week and change. They’ve taken care of a pretty favorable schedule and have continued to win consistently away from home. Even With Oladipo missing 11 games, the Pacers are squarely in the hunt for one of the top seeds in the Eastern Conference. December wasn’t as kind to the Pacers last year.
Pacers Upcoming Schedule
-Pistons (Friday, 12/28)
-Hawks (Monday, 12/31)
-at Bulls (Friday, 1/4)
-at Raptors (Sunday, 1/6)
-at Cavs (Tuesday, 1/8)
