Game Rewind: Pacers 107, Kings 104

Friday, Feb. 3 at 7:00 PM ET at Gainbridge Fieldhouse

On night two of back-to-back games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the Indiana Pacers showed few signs of fatigue against the highest scoring team in the NBA.

The Pacers (25-29) used a pair of 3-point barrages to build a 19-point third quarter advantage before relying on solid defense to hold off a late Sacramento Kings (29-22) rally in a 107-104 Blue & Gold win in Indianapolis Friday.

With the win, the Pacers snapped a four-game losing streak and split the season series against the Kings.

Buddy Hield led the Pacers with 21 points on five made 3-pointers to go along with 10 rebounds and six assists while Aaron Nesmith made four threes en route to 17 points. Pacers center Myles Turner registered a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

In his first game in Indianapolis since being traded from Indiana to Sacramento last season, Domantas Sabonis collected 15 points, 16 rebounds and six assists for the Kings. Harrison Barnes led the Kings with 23 points.

“He's having a hell of a season, he has brought that franchise up quite a bit with the way he is playing over there,” Turner said of Sabonis. “It's fun going back-and-forth with him, with similar games and whatnot. I think we both enjoy the challenge, enjoy the battle, you know, make each other better and that's what that's what this league is about." 

Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox, who leads the team in scoring at 24.3 points per game, did not play due to personal reasons.

One of the most important margins on the night proved fastbreak points, as the Pacers outscored the Kings 28-17 in that area.

After a close first quarter, the Pacers got hot from deep in the second to take a 60-48 lead into the locker room.

The teams struggled on offense to start the game, as both squads hit just three of their first 10 shot attempts.

Out of a timeout, Bennedict Mathurin and Daniel Theis came off the bench and each scored quick buckets to put the Pacers ahead 13-8 by the midway point of the opening frame.

After the teams tied the score four more times, Turner hit a free throw and Hield drained a 3-pointer – his 200th overall of the season – to put the Pacers back ahead before a trey at the buzzer by the Kings’ Trey Lyles cut it to 28-27.

The score stayed within two baskets until the Pacers made four straight 3-pointers – including three from Nesmith and one from Hield – to go on a 12-0 run and go up 49-39 with 5:47 left in the half.

Indiana maintained the lead the rest of the half by outscoring the Kings 7-4 in the final 2:09.

At the break, the Pacers held the Kings to 39.1 percent shooting.

Out of intermission, the Pacers continued nailing triples as Tyrese Haliburton, Hield and Turner each made 3-pointers as part of a 11-2 run to put the Blue & Gold up 73-58 with 7:26 left in the third quarter.

While the Pacers led by 19 points at 79-60 at one point, the Kings answered with an 11-0 run to narrow the deficit to 79-71 with 2:51 on the clock.

Three baskets by T.J. McConnell and a layup from Mathurin helped the Pacers stay ahead at 87-80 going into the final frame

Sacramento continued to chip away at the deficit to start the fourth quarter, using an 11-2 run to make it a one-point game with 6:31 left in the game, but a 3-pointer by Hield and breakaway dunk from Haliburton reignited the team and crowd with 5:27 remaining.

While the Kings had two possessions down three to tie it with a minute left, the Pacers got a pair of stops to secure the win. 

“We stuck to the gameplan. We came fired up,”  Nesmith said. “We know they’re a fast-paced team and are the highest-scoring team in the NBA. With that on our minds, we just had to make sure we took care of business on that side of the ball.”

Postgame, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said it was a solid defensive performance in the fourth quarter.

“We had some pretty good looks during that stretch, we just missed them,” Carlisle said. “And when you're missing, your defense has got to hold you up and that's what happened. We were able to get enough stops to win the game.”

From the field, the Pacers shot 44.9 percent and Kings went 43 percent. The Pacers were outrebounded 49-47 but had more points in the paint (44-40_.

The Pacers will complete their three-game homestand against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.

Hield has hit five or more 3-pointers in a game 22 times this season.

Hield has three double-doubles this season and Turner has 15.

The Kings were held to 15 points under their NBA-leading scoring average of 119.5.

The Kings' bench outscored the Pacers' reserves 44-36.

Theis, in his second game as a Pacer since returning from injury, finished at +12 with eight points and four rebounds in 15 minutes.

Haliburton finished at +18 with 10 points, nine assists and four rebounds.

“That’s how it has to be all the time. I think that this game obviously meant a lot to Buddy, Ty, some guys on staff, and I think that we had a little extra incentive to go out there and get the job done. But that's gotta be the mentality we have every night -- the way we were just out there covering for each other and talking, rotating. I like our chances when we play like that.” – Turner on the team's defensive performance

“We just have to keep encouraging him. He’s guarding the best matchup every night – he’s guarding Lebron (James), Kyrie (irving) and (Kevin Durant)  – while making shots (which) is pretty hard to do. Hats off to him, he brings that dog mindset to our team.” – Hield on Nesmith’s recent play.

“(He’s) someone that I have a relationship with and someone that's gonna be a friend down the line, and we just continue to compete.” – Turner on going up against Sabonis

“It’s probably No. 1 for sure.” – Hield on his posterizing dunk in the fourth quarter

“I thought Hield had one of his best all-round games of the season. He rebounded, he hit shots, he defended. He was great, Nesmith was great. Myles did a really solid job on Domas and Ty was +18 out there, so what are you going to say about that. I thought if you're going to give a game ball tonight it would go to Theis. He showed  the type of player he is and the kind of impact he can have on our team. Plus-12 off the bench, he just gives us a different kind of big. A guy who has feel, skill but stil has toughness and protects the rim.” -- Carlisle on players who stepped up in the game

“The idea tonight was to keep the wheels on the wagon and stay on the basics, which is just solid team defense. Guard your yard, you know, stick with the basic rules. This kind of game, if it was a ballet, they would have kicked our ass. If it was a slugfest, it's more of our kind of game.” – Carlisle

“That was a hard-fought game. We just had to buckle down and make winning plays.” – Nesmith on closing out the win

“It’s huge to be able to put this one in the win column. It was just a difference between making those one or two winning plays that we didn’t do yesterday.” -- Nesmith on bouncing back after the loss to the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday."

Hield’s five made 3-pointers in the game puts him at 204 for the season. He is just the third Pacer ever to make at least 200 3-pointers in a season, and trails just Paul George (210, 2015-2016) and Reggie Miller (229, 1996-1997) in the franchise record books.

The Pacers wrap up a three-game homestand by welcoming Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers to Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sunday, Feb. 5 at 5:00 PM ET. Find Tickets >>