Pacers fans descended upon Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday morning for the annual FanJam presented by Gainbridge.
The always popular event sold out once again, with fans filling the lower bowl and the Krieg DeVault level to watch the 2023-24 Pacers scrimmage. The first 5,000 fans received a t-shirt and food voucher and fans had over an hour to participate in activities on the concourse before the team took the court.
This year's FanJam featured a much more competitive scrimmage than in past years thanks to head coach Rick Carlisle, who divided the Pacers into two teams and had them compete in an intense scrimmage with 10-minute halves.
It was effectively a full practice for the team, who also scrimmaged on the main court at Friday's practice. The White team — which included Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner — won handily on Friday, which allowed them to use the home locker room for FanJam.
That result led to the Blue team coming out motivated on Saturday.
PHOTO GALLERY: 2023 FanJam presented by Gainbridge >>
Point guard T.J. McConnell showed off his veteran savviness early in the scrimmage, knifing into the lane and repeatedly getting to his midrange pull-up. McConnell scored the first four points of the game and eight of the first 10 for Blue.
The White team kept the score close early in the first half and the two teams were actually tied at 14 midway through the half. But the Blue team dominated the next several minutes, reeling off 13 unanswered points to open up a double-digit lead in the final minute.
Second-year guard Bennedict Mathurin ended the White team's drought with a three with 36.8 seconds left. After a defensive stop, Haliburton converted a layup with 1.4 seconds left to cut the deficit to 27-19 at the intermission.
The White team continued its run to start the second half, with Haliburton connecting with Obi Toppin on lobs on their first two possessions.
But the Blue squad had an answer for seemingly every attempted run by the White team.
Turner hit back-to-back threes to keep White within striking distance, but the Blue team eventually strung together a couple scores capped by Isaiah Jackson's breakaway dunk that pushed the lead to 45-35 with 4:30 left in the contest.
A Mathurin three and Haliburton free throw pulled the White team within one, but that was the closest they got, as the Blue team held on down the stretch for a 51-44 win.
"They busted our (tails) yesterday," Hield said. "But we were able to regroup, make some adjustments, and figure the game out. T.J. was able to control the game early and set the pace. Everybody came into today more locked in and focused and able to compete."
Carlisle presented Blue with the opportunity to choose a punishment for the White team. After discussing with their teammates, McConnell and Hield elected to have the White team run sprints.
The new format was well received by fans, who were engaged throughout the game and cheering hard for both teams. Mascot Boomer even chose two kids to sit on the benches as guest assistant coaches for the two teams.
"Just look at the outcome, how many people were here," McConnell said. "It's pretty amazing to have a fan base like we do to come out and watch an intersquad scrimmage. But there's certainly a reason to be excited with the guys that we already have and the guys that we brought in."
"There was a lot if competitive edge," said assistant coach Mike Weinar, who coached the Blue team to victory. "I think from day one in training camp, Coach (Carlisle) has talked about that, our front office has talked about that. We're trying to bring that competitive edge from one through 18. I think you saw that today."
After the scrimmage, Turner took the mic to emcee the annual Rookie Show. There were eight performances this year, four by first-year staff members and four by the Pacers' rookie players.
As always, Turner chose the costumes each performer had to wear and their songs. Staff costumes included Wolverine and all four Teletubbies.
Oscar Tshiebwe was the first player to perform, singing "Shut Up & Dance with Me" by Walk the Moon while dressed as Sulley from "Monsters, Inc."
Isaiah Wong had the most popular costume, wearing a Donald Duck outfit while performing "Return of the Mack" by Mark Morrison.
Ben Sheppard dressed as Luigi and gave a strong performance of "One Time" by Justin Bieber, but fellow first-round pick Jarace Walker won the day with a spirited rendition of "California Gurls" by Katy Perry while dressed as Buddy the Elf.
Walker won the fan vote for the best performance, but Hield then requested the rookie players compete in a dance-off. Sheppard took home the title there.
"I like to laugh at the rookies, make them do stuff they don't want to do, make them uncomfortable," Hield said. "That's the funny part about it. You can get a good laugh for the fans and for the team."
Walker and Sheppard both admitted afterwards to having plenty of anxiety about having to perform. They found out their costumes and songs a week ago, but Walker did a crash course over the lyrics on Friday night and was singing along with Katy Perry on his way into the team facility on Saturday morning.
"I was stressing about it all week," Sheppard said. "Like public speaking, all that, it kind of bothers me a little bit. I don't have problems playing in front of a bunch of people, but singing and talking...But once I got up there I had fun. It was good."
Despite the nerves, the rookies had a great time at their first FanJam. After the on-court performances wrapped up, the players spread out across the building to take photos with fans at photo stations.
"I didn't expect it to be (darn) near sold out and packed," Walker said. "Just to see the fans, their enjoyment, their yelling, their screaming, and just their excitement for the season gets us more riled up and more ready to play for them."