First Thoughts: Brooklyn 117, Indiana 109
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Correspondent
Let’s take a quick look at how the Indiana Pacers fell 117-109 in a seesaw battle with the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
WHY IT HAPPENED: Indiana mounted another valiant comeback, but a 24-point second-half deficit proved too big a hill to climb. The Pacers allowed 69 points in the first half, their most of any half all season, and struggled to contain Deron Williams, who had 33 points and 14 assists. David West led Indiana with 26 points and nine rebounds. Paul George had 21 points, while Roy Hibbert posted another double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Brooklyn earned one of its biggest road wins of the season by going on a 12-3 run after Lance Stephenson had given Indiana an unlikely 101-99 lead.
WHAT WE LEARNED: The Pacers are a team with split personalities. They often play in wild swings, and against a very good team, that doesn’t work. Indiana’s defense is struggling late in the season. Brook Lopez finished with 24 points and five blocks. He’s one of numerous reasons the Nets present matchup problems for the Pacers, who lost all three games in the regular season series. The game had the feel of a playoff atmosphere. Brooklyn coach P.J. Carlesimo made it clear that his team would use this evening as a tuneup, and the Pacers were overwhelmed at the start in their own building. Four straight games with deficits of at least 20 points is a cause for concern for Indiana coach Frank Vogel.
KEY NUMBER: Brooklyn shot 65 percent in the first half and 51 percent for the game. In the previous five games the Pacers had allowed opponents to shoot 46 percent, 49 percent, 47 percent, 49 percent and 46 percent from the field. In other words, Indy’s defense — which entered Friday allowing the league to shoot just 41.8 percent against it — is out of sync late in the season.
TURNING POINT: Brooklyn outscored the Pacers 24-10 to close the first half after Johnson and Lopez checked in for their first action of the second quarter with 5:33 remaining. That built the Nets enough latitude to withstand Indiana’s second-half surge.
NEXT: The Pacers head to Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon for a big game with the Knicks. It might be a preview of the second round of the playoffs.
