Pacers' youth — Nesmith, Mathurin and Smith — shines in win over Jazz
The Pacers (5-3) outscored the Jazz by 13 in the final quarter for their third win in four games.
Two days after the Pacers piled up 152 points in a 41-point win over the San Antonio Spurs, the question was how would they respond? It’s something coaches discuss and worry about, and it’s on the players to overcome the natural human element to be overconfident and relax.
Continuing a favorable stretch with 11 of their first 16 games at home, Game 3 of a five-game homestand was against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday. And the Jazz were without Walker Kessler (left elbow sprain), who played on Team USA this summer with Tyrese Haliburton.
While the Pacers’ defense continues to have its flaws, their high-powered offense has enough to overcome it against below-average opponents like the Jazz (2-7).
The Pacers (5-3) had three 20-point scorers and got 59 points from the bench in a 134-118 win, their third in the last four games. That’s what they have to do with this early portion of their schedule.
Consider how Haliburton was the only Pacer not to score in the first half, and how, at one point, the Jazz had more paint points (20) than the Pacers did total points (19). The first quarter was rough, the Pacers outscored at their own game in transition 14-4. But they scored enough to be even at 29.
The Jazz were switching at all five positions so center Myles Turner feasted inside. He scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half, then they oddly went away from it. He only got two shot attempts in the second half, though some of that can be attributed to backup Jalen Smith having a special game and earning more playing time.
Smith had a good training camp and has settled in nicely to playing the backup 5 minutes. He’s not a flashy or loud player, but he’s been productive. He recorded his first double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
At halftime, I appreciated Turner’s candid assessment on Bally Sports Indiana of how things were going on the defensive end: “I think our defense isn't great right now and that's the main problem. So we're going to make the proper adjustments and get it done in this next half.”
And the veteran center was right.
After the Jazz shot 52% in the first half and scored 38 of their 60 points in the paint, they were held to 42% in the second and turned it over 11 times. And Jordan Clarkson had a special game with 33 points.
More specifically, the Pacers registered a season-high 14 steals and converted the Jazz’s 22 giveaways into 28 points. That’s where this game changed.