INDIANAPOLIS – For the first time since the opening week of the 2020-21 season, the Indiana Pacers (25-27) have won 3 straight games.
Stretching that streak to 3 victories in a row came this weekend in consecutive road wins over the Magic and Grizzlies.
Similar to their win over the Timberwolves on Wednesday night, the Pacers held on against one of the worst teams in the league in Orlando, for a 111-106 victory on Friday night.
With Domantas Sabonis (16 points) and Malcolm Brogdon (11 points) back in the lineup, the Pacers built a 13-point halftime lead against the tanking Magic (17-35).
Another strong night from the bench was there for Nate Bjorkgren’s bunch.
Aaron Holiday continued his big April with 20 points on 6-of-10 from behind the arc. Doug McDermott added 19 points.
Sunday’s win in Memphis followed a similar script we’ve seen lately, although one against a far better team than the Timberwolves and Magic.
Indiana outscored the Grizzlies (26-25) 132-125, with Caris LeVert leading the way in scoring 34 points. Brogdon scored 29.
Against Memphis, Indiana scored a season-high 45 points in the first quarter and ended up leading wire-to-wire.
But there was definite late-game pressure on the Pacers, with a variety of guys making some clutch plays in the final few minutes to seal this victory against the 8th seed Grizzlies.
The Pacers will return to Bankers Life Fieldhouse for a nationally televised game against the Clippers on Tuesday. It’s the only national game for the Pacers in the second half of the season and the lone home game for them in this 6-game stretch.
Three Things Learned
1. Caris LeVert Has Best Night As A Pacer: Sunday was the night of the year (so far) for Caris LeVert with the Pacers. The young guard poured in 34 points on 14-of-20 shooting. When you watch LeVert operate, you are not going to be wowed by some high-flying athleticism or dead-eye three-point shooting. In a way, LeVert has some T.J. Warren in his game. It’s not the flashiest style, but LeVert just gets it done in a variety of ways. LeVert was the lead guy for Indiana early in Sunday’s win, and hit a huge runner late. With the Pacers starting to get healthier again, seeing LeVert grow with his new team will be a fun continued development in the final month of the season.
2. Aaron Holiday Shining: After falling out of the rotation a few weeks back, Aaron Holiday’s number has been called again in April, and the 24-year-old has delivered. He’s shooting 57 percent from the field and is an incredible 15-of-23 from three this month. It’s been a disappointing third season for Holiday, but he’s trying to make a strong final impression. Credit the younger Holiday for remaining locked in and not getting too flustered by losing his spot in the rotation. Now, by no means does Holiday have an established rotational spot moving forward. He’s under contract through next season, with a qualifying offer for the 2022-23 season.
3. Playoff Standings Updated: One thing that I think we can pretty confidently say about the Pacers’ playoff situation this year is they will at least be in the play-in part of things for the postseason. That means Indiana will be anywhere from the 4 to 10 seed. Currently, the Pacers are 5.5 games up on No. 12 seed Toronto, with 20 games to play. But with seeds 4 through 10 separated by just 5 total games, it’s anyone’s guess as to how it’ll shake out. Right now the standings look like this: 4. Atlanta (29-25, .537), 5. Charlotte (27-25, .519), 6. Miami (27-25, .519), 7. Boston (28-26, .519), 8. New York (27-27, .500), 9. Indiana (25-27, .481), 10. (Chicago (22-30, .420). Remember, the top 6 seeds are locked into the playoffs. The play-in format is No. 7 vs. No. 8, with the winner of that game being the 7th seed. At the same time, the 9th team plays the 10th with the loser out of the playoffs. The final 8th spot of the playoffs will then be decided by a game between the loser of 7/8 and the winner of 9/10.
Pacers Upcoming Schedule
-Clippers (Tuesday, 4/13, at 7:30 PM)
-@Rockets (Wednesday, 4/14, at 9:00 PM)
-@Jazz (Friday, 4/16, at 3:00 PM)
-@Hawks (Sunday, 4/18, at 1:00 PM)
-Spurs (Monday, 4/19, at 8:00 PM)
