Game Rewind: Pacers 114, Nets 106

The Pacers ended the Nets' seven-game winning streak Friday night by defeating them 114-106 in Brooklyn.

Like the Blue & Gold's last two games, this one came down to the end, and it was Victor Oladipo who made a number of clutch plays in crunch time to push the Pacers to victory. After a back-and-forth final quarter, the Pacers trailed 100-98 with 4:07 to play.

Oladipo scored the Pacers' next eight points to give his team a 106-104 lead with 2:01 to play. Indiana outscored Brooklyn 10-2 the rest of the way, capped off by a long triple by Oladipo, to lock up win No. 21 on the season.

“No, it’s not just playing with an edge, but being smart about it at the same time," Oladipo said of his play. "That’s what I felt I did different today from the last two games. I just know at the end of the day I’ve got to start finishing stronger, and it turned out good for us.”

In the opening quarter, Indiana jumped out to a 15-9 lead. By the 5:31 mark, that lead had grown to 12, 25-13. The Pacers' advantage got as big as 15, but when the first was over, Indiana led by 10, 37-27. The 37 first quarter points were a season high for the Blue & Gold.

In the second, Indiana got its lead back up to 14, but the Nets ran off seven straight to cut the deficit in half, 43-38, with 7:32 left in the half. But Brooklyn wouldn't get any closer the rest of the half and the Pacers were able to take a double-digit lead into the locker room.

The third quarter belonged to Brooklyn. In a flash they made a 10-point deficit just four. The home team tied the game, 72-72, at the 5:03 mark in the period. The Nets grabbed the lead soon after and led by four, 80-76, with 3:17 to go.

From there, the Pacers responded with a 8-0 run to take a 84-80 lead into the final quarter, and that's where Oladipo would score 14 of his 26 points to lead the Pacers to victory.

"We didn’t want to drop three straight and was able to win here on the road against a scrappy Brooklyn team that’s been playing really well," Pacers head coach Nate McMillan said. "They played well tonight. Our guys, for 48 minutes, hung in there.”

In addition to his 26 points, Oladipo had nine rebounds and six assists. Myles Turner finished with a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Thad Young scored 21 tonight.

For Brooklyn, Rodions Kurucs led the team in scoring with 24 points. Spencer Dinwiddie finished with 15 points and nine assists.

For the sixth time this year, Myles Turner finished the game with five blocks.

Indiana scored 37 points in the first quarter tonight, the most the team has scored in an opening period all season.

“I thought he [Vic] played angry. I loved his attitude coming out in the second half, being aggressive and making plays. That’s what he does. It was two games where he didn’t feel he played well and had a few turnovers. Tonight he was really efficient out there." - Pacers head coach Nate McMillan

"We feel like the last two games we lost because we gave the game away, so we had to come out with extra energy and get the win on the road.” - Pacers center Domantas Sabonis

“We could really never stop them. We didn’t stop them all night. We tried some different things. We tried mucking up the game a little, some different defenses, and never found that key to stopping them.” - Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson

The streak of avoiding three-straight losses continues for the Blue & Gold. Since January 1, 2018, the Pacers have played 77 games and have never lost three in a row. They're the only NBA team in that span to not lose three in a row.

The Pacers return to Bankers Life Fieldhouse to host John Wall and the Washington Wizards on Sunday, Dec. 23 at 5:00 PM ET. Find Tickets »

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