Game Rewind
The Pacers don't officially resume their season until Aug. 1, but if Sunday's scrimmage is any indication, they are primed for a playoff push.
Four starters scored 15 or more points in limited minutes as Indiana picked up a 118-111 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday afternoon in Orlando in their second of three scrimmages.
T.J. Warren scored 20 points and pulled down six rebounds, while Malcolm Brogdon tallied 17 points, seven boards, and six assists. Victor Oladipo added 16 points, seven rebounds, and three assists while going 4-for-8 from 3-point range and Myles Turner chipped in 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting to go along with eight rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.
"Today was a great team win," Oladipo said. "I thought everybody played well. My teammates played great...it wasn't perfect, but at the end of the day you've just got to keep building."
The Mavericks jumped out to a 15-6 lead at the start of Sunday's contest. Indiana got back within three points at 22-19 with 4:26 remaining in the opening frame. Warren scored seven points and Justin Holiday added five in the first quarter, but Dallas closed the frame with a 9-2 run to take a 37-26 lead after one.
Turner, playing in his first game in Orlando after sitting out Thursday's first scrimmage with a calf bruise, gave Indiana a spark to start the second quarter. The 6-11 center scored seven straight points for the Blue & Gold, converting two layups and a 3-pointer in a 1:46 span.
Oladipo took over shortly thereafter. The two-time All-Star checked in at the 7:44 mark and knocked down three 3-pointers in a little over two minutes of game time.
"I played pretty good," said Oladipo, who still has not made a final decision whether he will play when the season resumes next week. "Went out there did some good things. Just got to keep building, taking it one day at a time. Keep reassessing after every day, reassessing my knee and my body."
Still, the Mavs maintained a narrow advantage for most of the half. Indiana briefly tied the game at 60 on Brogdon's layup with 1:48 remaining, but Dallas scored the next four points. A JaKarr Sampson free throw with 30.4 seconds left in the half made it a three-point game at the break.
The Blue & Gold took their first lead of the game early in the third quarter, starting the second half with a 7-0 run to surge in front.
Dallas tied the contest at 70 on Maxi Kleber's layup with 8:10 left in the frame, but the Pacers responded with a 9-2 run to seize control. Indiana stretched its lead as high to as 10 points and took a 92-86 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Pacers' second unit helped extend the lead back to double digits early in the final frame. T.J. McConnell converted a pair of floaters and then dished out three assists — the first two to Doug McDermott and the last one to Sampson — during a 10-2 Pacers run that pushed the lead to 104-92.
"We picked up the tempo and did a better job of rebounding the basketball and trying to get into transition," Pacers head coach Nate McMillan said of the pivotal stretch.
After Indiana emptied its bench, Dallas twice climbed within two, but the Pacers' reserves managed to hang on down the stretch to preserve the victory.
With All-Star forward Domantas Sabonis having left the bubble to seek medical treatment for plantar fasciitis in his left foot, McMillan elected to start a smaller lineup on Sunday, adding Aaron Holiday as a third guard alongside Brogdon and Oladipo and bumping Warren to power forward. Holiday finished with eight points and two assists in 27 minutes.
Sampson had nine points off the bench for Indiana, while McConnell added six points and six assists.
Luka Doncic led Dallas with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists. Kleber chipped in 18 points and six boards for the Mavericks.
The Pacers have one more scrimmage on Tuesday at 4:00 PM ET against San Antonio before resuming the season with their first of eight seeding games against Philadelphia on Saturday at 7:00 PM ET.