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INDIANAPOLIS – What a day for Oshae Brissett.

On Wednesday morning, Brissett inked a new three-year contract with the Pacers (27-31).

And at night, the Pacers really needed the career-high 23 points, 12 rebounds and 42 minutes they got from Brissett.

Both the Pacers and Thunder had to turn to numerous bench players on Wednesday, with the depth of Indiana outlasting OKC for the 122-116 victory at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Malcolm Brogdon led Indiana with 29 points and Caris LeVert added 28, but it was Brissett stealing the show.

With Indiana missing Myles Turner (toe), Domantas Sabonis (back), Goga Bitadze (ankle) and JaKarr Sampson (suspension), they had to turn to the 6-7 Brissett to play center.

The Pacers built a double-digit first-half lead, with the Thunder making things interesting on more than one occasion after halftime.

A sloppy stretch by the Pacers in the closing minute forced Indiana to make some free throws late to seal the victory.

Nate Bjorkgren played just 8 guys on Wednesday, with a bench trio of T.J. McConnell, Aaron Holiday and Kelan Martin.

Oklahoma City has now lost 12 straight games.

The Pacers will have two days off before a home weekend back-to-back they need to take care of, in playing the basement dwelling Pistons and Magic.

 

Three Things Learned

1. Good For Brissett: On the day Oshae Brissett signed a life-changing 3-year contract with the Indiana Pacers, he started at center and scored a career-high 23 points (8-of-16 shooting) and grabbed 12 rebounds in playing 42 minutes. Amidst a season that won’t have tons of memories for Pacers fans, this week for Brissett does fall in the ‘feel good’ category. Brissett turned consecutive 10-day contracts into a new 3-year deal with Indiana, and then looked like a guy who earned his pay day on Wednesday night. Who knows where exactly Brissett fits moving forward, but he deserves tons of credit for his performance against the Thunder.

2. No Center: It’s not often you see an NBA team play an entire game without a center. You could make the argument that the Pacers played all of Wednesday’s game without even a power forward. Myles Turner (toe), Domantas Sabonis (back), Goga Bitadze (ankle) and JaKarr Sampson (suspension) were all out on Wednesday, so the Pacers really had no other choice. It was the 6-7 Oshae Brissett starting and delivering a career night. The Pacers were outrebounded by 9 and gave up 18 offensive rebounds, but they held their ground enough in the paint to get the must-have win. At the very least, the Pacers will have Sampson back on Saturday and will gladly take this two-day break to try and get some of their other bigs back.

3. Where’s Cassius? Even with the Pacers having a CVS receipt-long injury report on Wednesday, rookie Cassius Stanley couldn’t crack the 8-man rotation used by Nate Bjorkgren. Stanley has played in 16 games during his rookie campaign, and not in a single contest that was decided by fewer than 8 points. No one expected Stanley to earn a consistent presence in the rotation as a rookie, but it is disappointing to see him not even getting clock on a night when Indiana was without T.J. Warren, Doug McDermott and Jeremy Lamb. If the Pacers are looking for chances to further his development, Wednesday night would have been one of those rare times to give him a decent amount of run. For the season, Stanley is 6-of-22 from the floor and 1-of-6 from three-point range (in playing 42 minutes).

 

Pacers Upcoming Schedule

-Pistons (Saturday, 4/24, at 7:00 PM)

-@Magic (Sunday, 4/25, at 8:00 PM)

-Trailblazers (Tuesday, 4/27 at 7:00 PM)

-Nets (Thursday, 4/29 at 7:00 PM)

-Thunder (Saturday, 5/1 at 8:00 PM)

 

Eastern Conference Playoff Picture

1. 76ers (39-19, .672)

2. Nets (39-20, .661)

3. Bucks (35-22, .614)

4. Knicks (33-27, .550)

5. Hawks (32-27, .542)

6. Celtics (31-27, .534)

 

Play-In Teams

7. Heat (31-28, .525)

8. Hornets (28-29, .491)

9. Pacers (27-31, .466)

10. Wizards (25-33, .431)

 

Outside Looking In

11. Raptors (25-34, .424)

12. Bulls (24-34, .414)

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