Andrew Nembhard fires the Pacers against the Kings’ comeback

Five months after hosting the NBA Finals, Gainbridge Fieldhouse is gradually getting its paint back. After their disastrous start to the season, c Pacers start to string victories in their lair. Facing another team in bad shape last night, c Kings (6v-18d), Rick Carlisle’s men (6v-18d) had the last word (116-105).

With a final deficit that poorly reflects the appearance of the meeting in which the home team dominated for a long time, before the strong comeback of the guests. Behind Benedict Maturin’s 25 points or Pascal Siakam’s 23 units, the locals seemed to be in perfect control showing their collective strength.

After returning to the locker room with a 15-point lead (66-51), the Pacers even increased the gap to 19 points (77-58). Overwhelmed by the pace, the guests will still wake up in this third quarter, thanks to the constant activity of Russell Westbrook.

Russell Westbrook takes care of everything

This consecutively found Zach LaVine, then Maxime Reynaud as the new starter, or even DeMar DeRozan who allowed Sacramento to regain momentum. Thanks to this creative festival and the tempo that is now in their favor, the Kings are back under the 10-point mark. Precious Achiuva even finished the period strong and led her team to just two possessions (92-88).

A few minutes later, in the fourth quarter, Westbrook made a three-pointer, found Achiuva near the circle, and then punished two more times in the “underline”! And here is Sacramento with two possessions ahead (97-101) with six minutes to play. Rick Carlisle could only grimace, his team no longer showing any imagination in attack.

Right here, on a defensive blunder between Westbrook and Achiuva, Andrew Nembhardt (28 points and 12 assists) returned some light with his open 3-point shot. Then Benedikt Maturin, also forgotten in transition, doubled the lead from behind the arc, before Nembhardt tripled the lead from even further out.

The same Nembhard then called for a racket to almost finish 11-0 (108-101) by himself. This time, the Pacers, who were helped by their rookie Ethan Thompson with volleyballs in the finals, will no longer be afraid.

WHAT TO REMEMBER

– 207e triple-double for Westbrook. With 24 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds, with a 43 rating, the leader of the Kings was statistically the most productive to finish with his 4th triple-double of the season (just a win in this context), 207th of his career. We will especially remember his good technical understanding from this match Maxime Raynaudalready seen in recent weeks, as the Frenchman scores many of his points, in transition or otherwise, on balls shared by the former MVP.

– The Pacers are starting to look up. With the help of the schedule, Indiana is starting to pick up wins. After two wins against the Wizards and the Bulls, followed by two losses against the big teams (Cavs and Nuggets), the Pacers once again have their second win in a row (after beating the Bulls again). Indiana’s football players (6w-18d) remain 14th in the East, but show the best dynamics of all the teams at the bottom of the ranking. Including the Bucks (10v-15d), 10th just “3.5 games” ahead of them.

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How to read statistics? Min = Minute; Shots = Shots Successful / Shots Attempted; 3 points = 3 points / 3 points in an attempt; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive jump; T = Total number of jumps; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal mistakes; Int = intercepts; Bp = lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Difference of points when the player is on the field; Points = Points; Rating: player rating calculated based on positive actions – negative actions.