Game Rewind: Pacers 125, Cavaliers 113

Saturday, Oct. 28 at 7:30 PM ET at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse

Last season, the Indiana Pacers boasted the highest-scoring bench in the NBA. If Saturday’s performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers (1-2) is any indication, the Pacers (2-0) will again have one of the deepest second units in the league in 2023-24.

In a 125-113 Central Division road victory at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the Pacers’ bench outscored the Cavs reserves 61-11.

The Pacers trailed by 15 early, led by 11 at halftime, and came up clutch in the final moments to stay unbeaten. The Cavs got as close as two points with four minutes left in the game, but All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton knocked down three straight 3-pointers to put the Pacers up 118-108 with 3:13 remaining to help seal it.

Forward Aaron Nesmith, who recently signed a contract extension, scored a career-high 26 points and had nine rebounds for the Blue & Gold off the bench. Haliburton finished with 21 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds for a second straight double-double and veteran center Myles Turner logged 20 and 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.

On top of Nesmith’s performance, backup center Jalen Smith had 13 points and six rebounds, Buddy Hield scored 10 points and had four assists off the bench, and T.J. McConnell recorded eight points and eight assists with a +/- of +21.

"They were really good for us, (they) really saved the game," Haliburton said of the bench play.

Center Evan Mobley topped the Cavs’ box score with 33 points and 14 rebounds, former Pacer Caris LeVert recorded 31 points, eight assists and five rebounds, and Max Strus logged 21 points and 11 rebounds.

A healthy Pacers squad faced a notably shorthanded Cavs team, as All-Star guards Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland both sat out with hamstring injuries and starting forward Jarrett Allen was sidelined with an ankle bone bruise. Mitchell played in the Cavs’ 108-105 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night, scoring 43 points in 42 minutes.

Indiana’s bench outscored Cleveland’s reserves 38-2 in the first half, led by 17 points (7-for-10 shooting) from Nesmith and 10 points and five rebounds from Smith. LeVert scored an impressive 25 points in the first half.

LeVert could hardly miss to start the game, scoring 19 of his team’s first 27 points and 22 first-quarter points total on 9-for-12 (4-for-5 3-point) shooting.

Cleveland led by as many as 15 points in the first quarter, but the Pacers closed the gap before the start of the second frame. The Pacers’ bench kept them in it, scoring 21 of the team’s points as they trailed 37-31 at the end of 12 minutes of play.

The Cavs opened the game on a 15-3 run, which included a 13-0 scoring spree, through the first three and a half minutes, with LeVert accounting for nine points while his team pulled down four offensive rebounds and the Pacers shot 1-for-7.

While an and-one by Turner and a bucket from Andrew Nembhard cut the deficit to single digits, two more 3-pointers by LeVert and a basket by Isaac Okoro pushed the Cavs lead to 27-12 seven minutes into the game.

The Pacers then responded with an 11-1 run, with two dunks coming from Smith and a 3-pointer by Hield, to cut it to 28-23, and in the final 95 seconds of the first quarter, Nesmith hit two 3-pointers for the Pacers to keep it close.

After a hot first quarter, the Cavs shot 19 percent and made only four field goals in the second.

Indiana opened the second quarter on an 8-0 run, led by five points from Nesmith, before a 3-pointer by Smith and back-to-back baskets by McConnell -- who had five assists in the first half -- put the Pacers ahead 44-40 with eight minutes left before the break.

Both teams cooled off midway through the second quarter, but in the final 1:51 of the half, the Pacers strung together a 9-1 run behind five points by Bennedict Mathurin to take a 60-49 lead into intermission.

After scoring 12 points in the second quarter, the Cavs dropped 38 in the third.

Through the first six minutes of the third quarter, the teams virtually went basket-for-basket, but the Cavs used a pair of mini runs to narrow their deficit to six points. A 6-0 run, on four points by Haliburton and a basket by Hield, put the Pacers back up 82-72 with four minutes left in the third quarter.

Cleveland made it a four-point game following a Dean Wade 3-pointer, but the Pacers answered with treys from Smith and Nesmith to go back up 91-84 with a minute on the clock. Wade then drained another trey with 30 ticks left, but the Cavs trailed 91-87 going into the fourth quarter.

Tristan Thompson opened the fourth quarter with a putback, and Georges Niang made a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game for the Cavs, but threes from Nesmith and Hield soon put the Pacers back up 99-92 with 10 minutes remaining.

With 7:19 left, after Strus hit two 3-pointers to cut it to 105-101, the Pacers took a timeout. From there, Haliburton took over with his performance from deep. Turner also helped put the game away with a three of his own with 2:08 left to extend the lead to 121-110.

Overall, the Pacers shot 49 percent to the Cavs’ 43.4 percent. Foul shooting made a big difference, as the Cavs made just 15 of 24 shots from the charity stripe, and the Pacers went 14-for-17.

The Cavs outrebounded the Pacers 51-48  but were outscored 62-58 in the paint. Indiana had seven turnovers and Cleveland gave up six.

“We got off to a very slow start (and) they were charged up,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. “They had a tough game last night and the crowd was into it. It couldn’t have been much worse of a start, but we kept our poise, kept playing. The second unit gave us a big lift. T.J. McConnell was +21 in 18 minutes, and he was obviously a major influence on the game. Our whole bench did a great job, and down the stretch Tyrese closed the game."

The Pacers return home Monday to host the Chicago Bulls (1-2) in another Central Division game.

There were no ties in the game and five total lead changes.

The biggest lead either team had was 15 points.

The Pacers had 15 fastbreak points to the Cavs’ nine.

After recording 38 assists as a team in game one, the Pacers dished out 36 assists against the Cavs.

Six players scored in double figures for the Pacers.

Indiana went 15-for-38 from 3-point range and Cleveland was 12-for-31.

Longtime Pacer Myles Turner recorded his first double-double of the season, which is the 91st of his career.

Tyrese Haliburton recorded a second straight double-double. He finished with 32 last season and has 64 for his career between Indiana and Sacramento.

“It’s a group that plays with good energy. They saw the task. The task was to bring more force and posture to the game. We needed to get some stops and get some tempo  going on the second unit.” – Carlisle on the second unit

“Caris (LeVert) was getting anything he wanted to start the game, and he’s one of these guys that can go for 50 (points). We talked about that, but this is one of those situations for them where he needed a big night, (Max) Strus needed a big night, and so did (Evan) Mobley. Those guys were beasts, all three of them. It was going to be a tough game regardless of who was or wasn’t playing.” – Carlisle on the Cavs

“Jalen Smith really was terrific. Aaron Nesmith, he scored, made threes, drove it, and had two or three really key offensive rebounds for us. He’s becoming a better crasher. (Andrew) Nembhard defensively is a guy that really helps us … he’s really just starting to get some rhythm.” – Carlisle on the bench play

“Tyrese was amazing in the fourth quarter – 21 and 13, and makes it look easy.” Carlisle on Haliburton

“There is a reason why we wanted to sign  him and have him be one of our long-term pieces. His development both offensively and defensively is on the come – he’s getting better all the time. … Lloyd (Pierce) has done a great job helping him understand our style of play. It’s much different than Boston’s and much different than what he played in college. He really has found a niche and found a flow. He knows how to pick spots in our random game and defensively it gives us a big body to put on any one of four positions on the floor. He could even play five defensively with his strength.” – Carlisle on Nesmith.

“This morning I talked to the staff about keeping our eyes open: If there’s a point in the game where T.J. (McConnell)  is the right guy, we have to pull the trigger decisively. It was pretty clear in the first quarter that we needed him and what he brings. He was +24 at halftime.. He’s a terrific player, and our rotation is by no means set. You come into the season (with) an idea of what might work to keep guys in rhythm and keep them into the game, but sometimes it’s just not that simple. Sometimes you just need your best competitors ready to go like right now. He was and was a major difference in the game.” – Carlisle on McConnell

“Andrew (Nembhard) just has a really good understanding of our system. His footwork is very good. He’s unafraid. He’s one of our guys that takes a lot of charges. He loves these challenges. And then we had T.J. (McConnell) guarding (LeVert) for a while, I think at the end of the first half, because I was concerned that we were going to wear Andrew out. That’s a hard job guarding that caliber of scorer who has not a green light, but a blue light. .. It takes a lot out of you” – Carlisle on having Nembhard play defense on LeVert early

“We have a roster that’s really 15 deep.” – Carlisle on the team’s depth

“Tyrese was pitch-perfect tonight. He found the creases, he found the advantages. He finished the game off.” – Carlisle on Haliburton

"We kind of let them dictate the pace tonight, which is something we don't want to do, but when you get in a hole that's 15 or 20 usually that team is dictating the pace. We just had to figure it out, and any win is a good win." -- Haliburton on the game

"I have to be better for us to win games. Thankfully, our second unit brought us back. I have to be better in my minutes for us to win games." -- Haliburton on his slow start but strong finish

"That's a group that has played together pretty consistently. Andrew (Nembhard), Aaron (Nesmith), Jalen (Nesmith) has been playing really well these first coupe games and Buddy (Hield) is Buddy. T.J. did what he does -- brought energy to the game and kind of picked the pace up." -- Haliburton on the second unit playing well and the starting unit needing to step up earlier

"The thing about Aaron (Nesmith) is I think he's just comfortable in his skin. He really knows who he is as a basketball player and really maximizes what he does well." -- Haliburton on Nesmith

Indiana’s bench outscored Cleveland’s reserves 61-11 in the Pacers win.

The Pacers will host Zach Lavine and the Chicago Bulls in a Central Division matchup on Monday, Oct. 30,  at Gainbridge Fieldhouse at 7:00 PM. Find Tickets >>