Pacers excelling down stretch, face Hornets

The Indiana Pacers will look to continue their strong charge to the regular-season finish line when they face the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday in Indianapolis.

Indiana (44-31) has strengthened its grip on fourth position in the Eastern Conference after collecting seven wins from its past nine starts.

That run was capped by a hard-earned 111-109 win over the Sacramento Kings on Monday.

Aaron Nesmith scored 24 points, including 17 in the second half, as the Pacers overturned a 16-point deficit.

Myles Turner (illness) and Bennedict Mathurin (calf) were sidelined — and are currently both listed as day-to-day — but it mattered little, as reserves Obi Toppin (19 points) and Jarace Walker (15) stepped up to combine for 8 of 14 threes.

Consistent bench production has been a feature of Indiana’s season, and was described as “beautiful” by star point guard Tyrese Haliburton.

“The great part of our depth and our roster is that in some games (the bench) don’t have it and we pick them up, and some games we don’t have it and they pick us up. And sometimes we both have it, and everybody’s happy,” said Haliburton, who paired 18 points with 11 assists, and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:17 to play.

“It’s the beautiful thing about having depth. We’ve got a lot of faith in our bench. A big part of our team is our second group bringing energy, playing hard, playing the right way … we want to continue to see them play this way as we get into the playoffs because we’re going to need that. Last year our second unit was a really big part of why we had so much success in the playoffs.”

With seven games to go before the Pacers’ playoff campaign commences, coach Rick Carlisle was direct when describing how the home stretch looks for his side.

“All these games are going to be hard,” Carlisle said.

The Hornets (19-56) will arrive buoyed after breaking a five-game skid by beating the Jazz 110-106 on Monday night.

Stalwart Miles Bridges had 26 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, while Charlotte’s younger brigade impressed by successfully closing the contest out in the fourth quarter.

While it has been a challenging season in many ways for the Hornets, particularly since the season-ending injuries to superstar duo LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, the advancements made by the likes of sophomore Nick Smith Jr. and rookies Tidjane Salaun and KJ Simpson point to more prosperous times ahead.

“It’s great for KJ, Nick and Tidjane,” Charlotte coach Charles Lee said. “Defensively, the element of how much pace the other team is trying to execute with, how much physicality is there, especially when you’re up … those little things that matter throughout the whole game, but at that point of the game the stakes are elevated. I think it’s huge for them to be in that situation.

“It’s no surprise to me how successful they will continue to be in this league because they put in the work. You’re going to get out of this game what you put into it, and they put a lot into it.”

–Field Level Media