On Thursday night, the Indiana Pacers took on the Sacramento Kings in the fourth game of their six game roadtrip. Despite being down three of their starters, the Pacers beat the Kings 126-121 thanks to seven players finishing with double figures. Benedict Mathurin had a solid performance scoring a team-high 25 points and shooting 11-21 from the field. T.J. McConnell filled in well at the point guard position for the absent Tyrese Haliburton. McConnell finished with a 20 point, 10 assist double-double and had an impressive 64.3 FG% for the night. Jalen Smith earned a 17-point double-double along with one block.
As for the home team, Kevin Huerter had a career-high for points with 31 while shooting an efficient 11-17 from the field. Former Pacer, Domantas Sabonis notched his 12th triple-double of the season and third consecutive with 21 points, 10 assists, and 11 rebounds. De’Aaron Fox and Keegan Murray both finished with 20+ points and helped fuel a late-comeback attempt that ultimately fell short.
Rookies Show Up In Sacramento
The Pacers first-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, Jarace Walker, played his second game in a row with over 20 minutes on the court. Walker scored a career-high 15 points as well as a career-high in made 3-pointers with three. Walker made three of his shots in the fourth quarter when the Pacers needed him most.
Ben Sheppard, the guard out of Belmont who was the second first-round pick for the Pacers in this past year’s draft, received valuable playing time with a career-high 28 minutes. Sheppard also added seven points and and tied a career-high for steals with two.
Turner Joins The Indiana Pacers 1,200-Block Club
To add to a fun night for this Pacers team, Myles Turner completed a career milestone as he became the second player in franchise history to earn 1200 blocks. Turner finished the game with 18 points and 1 block. He joins Jermaine O’Neil as the only two Pacers with 1200+ career blocks. Turner is now 145 blocks away from tying the franchise record for blocks.
Pascal’s Pacers Debut vs Trail Blazers
On Friday, the Pacers are set to play the fifth game of their roadtrip against the Portland Trail Blazers. Pascal Siakam, recently acquired via trade, is expected to make his debut in the Pacers gold and blue. Siakam is bringing his 22.2 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 4.9 APG to an already high-scoring Indiana Pacers offense. For more on the trade between the Toronto Raptors and the Pacers for Siakam, check out Dalton Tinklenberg’s article here!
If the debut of Siakam isn’t enough to excite Pacers fans for Friday’s game, the possibility of Haliburton’s return should. The star point guard is currently listed as a game-time decision against Portland. According to AllPacers.com, Haliburton has been ahead of schedule in getting back on the court since he injured his hamstring on Jan. 8. Whether or not Haliburton returns on Friday, he is still currently the leading guard in the Eastern conference All-Star votes. With 2,718,973 votes, Haliburton is only trailing Luka Dončić in overall guard voting. After the third round of fan returns, he is ahead of popular guards like Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The impressive season from Haliburton has clearly had an effect on the increased popularity of the 23-year old point guard and the Pacers team as a whole.
The Pacers currently are the 7th seed in the Eastern conference and 1.5 games out of 4th place. They continue their season on Friday night as they face the 11-29 Trail Blazers.