These Pacers are very serious. With Tyrese Haliburton fully recovered and Pascal Siakam becoming more and more adapted, Rick Carlisle’s boys are showing signs of being able to get better and better as they move steadily towards the playoffs, and last night they defeated the Dallas Mavericks 133-111. They arrived in Indianapolis after seven consecutive victories.
After a hugely even start to the game, Indiana pushed just before halftime and took the lead to not lose such a privileged position until the final horn. It was an exercise in maturity, one in which they were truly insurmountable despite the magic of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, who combined for 62 points.
«For us the whole game revolved around our strengths, our competitiveness. We just wanted to stay aggressive and not look at the scoreboard, just play our game. You’re never going to have an easy game against a team like Dallas,” says Rick Carlisle, who for 13 years was head coach of the Texas organization.
The truth is that his boys seemed to understand the message. Myles Turner was his team’s top scorer with 33 points, Tyrese Haliburton achieved a double-double of 17 points and 10 assists, and Bennedict Mathurin ‘imitated’ him with another of 14 points and 11 rebounds. With such performances, the Pacers added their third consecutive victory and sixth in the last eight games.
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«We were able to close it out through defense. They have a special talent in their attack. We still have 24 games left to try to get a little more out of the work,” says Turner.
Kidd, no excuses
Far from blaming his boys for certain mistakes, Jason Kidd is clear that sometimes the opponent simply surpasses you and makes you understand that you must improve in some facets of the game. That’s exactly what he believes he happened to his Mavs against Indiana.
«Give them credit. They were making shots. We will learn from it. We had 15 assists, the lowest number of the season. Haliburton gave us problems moving the ball. Turner somehow finds his way to the rim or the 3-point line. He was very open and caused us problems, so we have to do better », says the Dallas coach.
(Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
2024-02-26 09:00:00
#Indiana #puts #brakes #Luka #Doncic
