Game Rewind: Pacers 98, Nuggets 101

Everything pointed towards the Pacers' favor as they entered Ball Arena on Wednesday to play the Denver Nuggets. They had two days of rest, and the hosts learned they would be without Nikola Jokic after the NBA announced a one-game suspension for the 2020-21 MVP.

However, after a hard-fought battle, the Blue & Gold (4-8) found themselves on the short end of the stick once more. A 30-point night from Will Barton made up for Jokic's absence as the Nuggets (6-4) topped the Pacers, 101-98.

In his first game back from a non-COVID illness, Malcolm Brogdon recorded a team-high 25 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter alone, for Indiana. Domantas Sabonis tallied 20 points and 19 rebounds, while T.J. McConnell had another stellar night. The reserve guard notched 16 on 8-of-11 shooting and dished out nine assists. But it just wasn't enough tonight.

"(We couldn't) get that last stop," McConnell said. "Will Barton had a really good night. And he made a big-time shot."

Barton essentially sealed the deal after banking in a layup with 27.2 seconds remaining. The bucket came after a successful Nuggets coach's challenge overturned a potential shooting foul on Sabonis.

The Pacers came up empty on their first four possessions as Denver jumped out to an early 8-0 lead. Indiana recovered slightly, but Denver soon stretched the gap again as the midway point of the frame passed. This time, an 8-2 Nuggets run pushed the hosts ahead 16-8 with 4:23 to play.

"We should've been more dominant from the jump ball," Sabonis said. "We came out, a couple days off, playing here with altitude. It kind of got us a bit. But that's no excuse."

From there, Indiana had a tough time catching up in the frame. Down 16-13, Denver youngsters Zeke Nnaji and Bones Hyland found success both in the paint and beyond the arc to extend Indiana's deficit to 23-15 with 1:40 left.

Yet, Indiana did leave the frame with a bit of a spark. The squad finished the frame with five unanswered, including a much-needed triple from Sabonis, to trim the gap to 23-20 before time expired. Coming into tonight, Indiana was averaging 31 points in the first quarter. They made just eight shots in the period.

Indiana did not find success to start the second either, as Nnaji and Hyland teamed up for a 7-2 spree over the first 1:58 to extend Denver's lead to 30-22. However, McConnell made sure the tables turned.

Checking in off the bench, the high-energy guard helped Indiana close the gap swiftly. McConnell drilled a jumper, grabbed two assists, and snagged a steal to kick off a 16-4 run that gave the Pacers their first lead of the game. Justin Holiday capped the run with his first bucket of the game, a 26-foot step-back three from the top of the key, to force a Nuggets timeout with 3:27 remaining. Indiana led 38-34.

Down the stretch, the teams remained in a close battle. Sabonis' jumper at the 1:08 mark pushed Indiana ahead 42-41. Brogdon added a circus-like layup with 10.4 seconds to play to extend the lead to three. However, Monte Morris' pull-up trey with 1.4 seconds showing tied the game at 44-all as the teams headed to the locker room for halftime.

Aside from a three by Brogdon, the early moments of the third quarter belonged to Myles Turner. The seven-footer tallied his 900th and 901st career block in a three-second sequence to keep Indiana ahead 47-44. At the 9:18 mark, he then drilled a triple to stretch the Pacers' lead to six. After Chris Duarte drilled a three, he then tallied his third block of the frame to keep the Blue & Gold ahead 53-48.

The Blue & Gold stretched their lead to as many as eight before the Nuggets led a charge. The hosts used nine unanswered, including seven straight from Barton, to regain a 57-56 lead to force a Pacers timeout with 5:09 to play in the third.

The score remained stagnant for a 2:45 span as both defenses rose to the occasion. A pair of free throws from Turner finally ended the drought and pushed the Pacers ahead, 58-57.

But still, Indiana had trouble scoring from the floor down the stretch. Holiday's three with 1:01 to go cut the gap to 62-61. However, Denver managed to extend the margin to four, 69-65, before the third quarter ended.

The Nuggets' lead bounced between four and one over several possessions early in the fourth. Duarte's second triple of the night finally tied things up at 76 apiece with 8:16 to play.

Then, Barton and Brogdon broke the game open. After Sabonis' putback brought the Pacers back within one, Barton nailed a triple to extend the Nuggets lead to 82-78. Brogdon responded with a trey. Then Barton. Then Brogdon again. After Nnaji broke the trend with a pair of free throws, Brogdon responded with a jumper to cut Indiana's gap once more to a single point (87-86). With 4:45 to play, Barton broke serve, drilling another triple to push Denver's lead to four. A pair of Aaron Gordon free throws extended Denver's lead to 92-86 at the 4:18 mark.

Trailing 94-88, McConnell and Brogdon both drove the paint for easy buckets to bring Indiana to within two. Later, trailing by four, Sabonis slammed down a putback with 1:36 to go to cut the gap to 96-94.

After a stop, Sabonis received a pass and a foul was called as he attempted to rise for a shot. However, upon a coach's challenge, it was overturned and a jump ball took place. The Nuggets captured it, and Barton extended the lead to four with his 30th point of the night.

Jeremy Lamb cut the deficit to 98-96 on a floater with 14.1 seconds remaining, giving the squad hope. However, on Denver's inbounds play, Indiana left Jeff Green wide open in the paint for a slam.

Brogdon made it interesting once more with another layup as Hyland connected on just 1-of-2 free throws. However, Lamb's long 3-point try bounced left. It left the Blue & Gold heartbroken once more after a hard-fought battle.

Indiana will finish off its four-game road trip with a bout against the Utah Jazz on Thursday night.

Seemingly bothered by the high altitude, Chris Duarte had a rough outing. He finished with six points on 2-of-9 shooting.

The Pacers committed 15 turnovers, which turned into 15 points for the Nuggets. Meanwhile, they forced only 10 for 12 points.

Denver's bench outscored Indiana's bench, 39-28. Nnaji and Hyland combined for 31 of those points.

"I've been out the last two games with strep throat. Tonight, I (was) still feeling a bit under the weather. It just took me a while to wake up and get out of the fog. My teammates, my coach, they trust me with the ball." –Brogdon on his recovery and performance tonight

"They were switching it around, changing defenses on us, and packing the paint. We also had a couple of good looks and couldn't convert." –Sabonis on what made the third quarter so tough

"We just got to be better. When we're running it out in transition like that, that's when we're at our best. We can't continuously blow leads like that. We can't let that be a trend. We've got to find ways to take our leads and expand them and weather the storm when they make their run." –McConnell on what needs to change to keep a late lead

Myles Turner tallied a season-high six blocks en route to surpassing the 900-block mark for his career.

The Pacers travel to Utah to close out their road trip against Donovan Mitchell and the Jazz on Thursday, Nov. 11 at 9:00 PM ET.

After a four-game Western Conference road trip, the Pacers return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse to host the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets »