Pacers lose to the Mavericks 94-79
This one was rough for Indiana. A balanced attack from the Dallas Mavericks proved too much for them, and they fell 79-94.
Jarnell Stokes led the Pacers with 15 points and seven rebounds on 5-for-6 shooting from the field. Past that, however, the team had a disappointing turnout. T.J. Leaf shot only 2-for-7 for a total of seven points.
The Mavericks just straight up outscored Indiana, with four different players scoring in double digits. Leading the way was Jameel Warney from Stony Brook with 17 points and Brandon Paul from the University of Illinois with 16 points.
The Pacers had the lead for the entirety of the first half, thanks in large part to an impressive 24-point first quarter. However, their scoring slowed in the second half. After a Jameel Warney layup with 7:50 left in the third put the Mavericks up by one, the Pacers wouldn’t see another lead.
This loss didn’t mean that the Pacers were out of the running for the championship. They simply needed the Detroit Pistons to either lose their game the next day or win by fewer than four points. Unfortunately, Detroit beat the Charlotte Hornets by a maddening five points, banishing the Pacers to the third place game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.