The Indiana Pacers didn’t mess around on Sunday night as they dominated the Brooklyn Nets from start to finish, clinching a playoff spot in the process.
The Pacers led by as many as 42 points in their 129-105 victory over the Nets, but more importantly, they clinched a spot in the postseason with two games remaining on the schedule.
Myles Turner had plenty of time coming off the bench to do damage as he led Indiana with 28 points while grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking two shots. George Hill was 6 of 10 from the floor for 18 points followed by Ian Mahinmi’s 16 points.
Paul George played only 22 minutes in the rout — scoring 15 points on 5 of 9 shooting — to allow him to rest his injured ankle once the game wasn’t in doubt.
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Solomon Hill had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds while C.J. Miles rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points as his hot streak continues.
While the Pacers should have secured their playoff spot in their last game against a resting Toronto Raptors team, Indiana came out swinging against a Nets team they lost to in their last meeting. By the end of the first quarter, the Pacers were already leading by 20 points.
Indiana is still waiting to see who their first round matchup is against as the Pacers are in a fight for the 7th seed with the Detroit Pistons. As mentioned before, Indiana holds the tiebreaker over the Pistons, so they need only to match Detroit’s record in these last two games to earn a date with the Toronto Raptors in the first round.
Advanced Boxscore Recap in Previous Indiana Pacers Game | PointAfter
After playing all the way to Game 82 last season before getting eliminated on the final night of the regular season by Memphis Grizzlies, the Pacers can rest a little easier knowing they’ve punched their ticket into the postseason with their 43rd win. The Eastern Conference playoff race is much more competitive this season as all of the teams will have records better than .500. If the Pacers would have snuck into the playoffs last season, it would have been with 39 wins.
Next: The Reason for the Pacers' Late Game Struggles
The Pacers have done better than some expected, but Indiana needs to have at least a good showing in the playoffs to deem the season a success.