Fresh off one of their most exciting wins in recent memory, the Indiana Pacers will try to ride the momentum into Friday’s road matchup against the scuffling Philadelphia 76ers.
Indiana had lost three games in a row entering Tuesday — and it appeared that skid was destined to reach four games, as the team trailed the Milwaukee Bucks by three points in the waning seconds.
However, Tyrese Haliburton drained an off-balance 3-pointer and was fouled with 3.4 seconds left. He knocked down the free throw to win the game 115-114.
“It’s the stuff you dream of,” Haliburton said. “I’m thankful my teammates trusted me.”
The clutch sequence lifted Indiana into a tie with Milwaukee for fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings at 36-28. They have 18 games remaining in the race for home-court advantage in the first round.
Haliburton finished with 14 points and 10 assists to notch his seventh consecutive double-double. Naturally, though, his decisive four-point play was the talk of the town.
“An amazing sequence of events,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. “What a play and (Pacers legend Reggie Miller) was in the building. They’ll be talking about Tyrese’s shot for a lot of years.”
Needless to say, Philadelphia’s defensive game plan will center around Haliburton and Pascal Siakam, who also is coming off a strong performance. The versatile forward posted 25 points, 12 rebounds and five assists in the win over Milwaukee.
Siakam shot 10 of 15 from the floor in that contest and has made at least 50 percent of his shots in six of his last eight games.
Siakam led the Pacers in scoring with 21 points in their most recent matchup with the Sixers — a 115-102 win on Jan. 18. Haliburton only managed nine points on 1-of-7 shooting from 3-point range in that one.
Philadelphia played without Joel Embiid and Paul George in that matchup, as Tyrese Maxey (28 points) carried a heavy offensive burden.
Embiid (knee) and George (groin) are once again going to miss Friday’s game, and Maxey (finger, back) won’t play this time around, either.
Playing without many of their top players, the Sixers have lost 14 of their last 16 games. Most recently, the team dropped a 118-105 decision against the host Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.
“I’m a competitive guy … I’d like our team to play a little bit better,” said Sixers coach Nick Nurse, who won a title in 2019 as the Raptors’ coach. “You kind of always want to get (a win over) the people you know a little bit.”
Quentin Grimes led the way with 29 points in the loss to Toronto, as he continued to stand out since coming over in a trade with the Dallas Mavericks. Jeff Dowtin Jr. (20 points) and Adem Bona (13 points, nine rebounds) were bright spots, as well, even as the losses continue to pile up in the midst of a nightmare season.
“There’s no denying the disappointment that you have,” Nurse said earlier this week. “You kind of have to face a lot, any time you look at the standings or anytime something scrolls across the TV. … The losing’s hard. Trying to keep it all together is the main thing.”
