INDIANAPOLIS — Bennedict Mathurin scored 28 points and grabbed 17 rebounds and Myles Turner had 23 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks including a game-saver to lead the Pacers to a 105-99 overtime win over the Nets on Thursday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Pacers won their third straight game, all by six points or fewer with two of those coming in overtime to improve to 40-29 and increase their lead on the Bucks and Pistons for fourth place in the Eastern Conference to 1 1/2 games. The Nets fell to 23-47.
Aaron Nesmith added 14 points for the Pacers. Forward Ziaire Williams and guard D’Angelo Russell led the Nets with 22 points each.
Bennedict Mathurin helped carry the Pacers back
After scoring 16 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter in Wednesday’s comeback win, Mathurin was once again the Pacers’ most reliable offensive weapon in Thursday’s game.The third-year wing attacked off the bounce as usual, showed some touch from outside and also made a huge impact on the glass. He scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, drawing a three-shot foul with 14.6 seconds to go and hitting all three of those to tie the score and send it to overtime. He had six points in overtime on 2 of 3 shooting with two free throws on three attempts to put the game away. He finished with 28 points on 10 of 17 shooting including 2 of 4 from 3-point range and 6 of 7 at the line.
The Pacers’ fatigue was evident
Thursday marked the Pacers’ fifth game in seventh days and the second game of their second back-to-back inside of that week. The first three of the five made up a three-game road swing. Each of the first four games were at least somewhat close and the Pacers’ wins over the Timberwolves on Monday and Mavericks on Wednesday were wild ones. They beat Minnesota in overtime and the Mavericks thanks to a 12-point swing in the game’s final minute.
So the Pacers had reason to be exhausted and it was pretty clear from the beginning they were. They failed to score on their first five possessions and it took them more than six minutes to score their first 10 points of the game. At the end of the first quarter they had 23 points on 7 of 20 shooting and at halftime they were down 52-42, shooting 14 of 38 from the floor and 5 of 18 from 3-point range with 12 turnovers.
Even as the Pacers drew the game closer, there was still obvious evidence they were tired. They made 19 of 39 field goals in the second half but just 3 of 13 3-pointers.
Myles Turner was tough at the rim
Turner sat out Monday night’s game with a left hip contusion and he played just 22 minutes in Wednesday’s game thanks to some shooting struggles and the Mavericks playing a wing-heavy lineup and having a lot of success driving the ball.
As a result, Turner was one of the few Pacers regulars who entered Thursday’s game rested and he turned that into production at the rim and on the glass at both ends. The Nets managed to get the ball to the paint frequently but he was there to deny them and to grab rebounds when they missed
Turner scored 23 points on 8 of 11 shooting including 2 of 5 from 3-point range. He grabbed 10 rebounds, eight on the defensive end and blocked five shots including a huge one on a Keon Johnson block attempt with 13 seconds to go.
