The Indiana Pacers closed out the regular season with a win in Atlanta.
The Indiana Pacers found a way to get it done one last time this season. It was a fun, up-and-down game that featured a ton of scoring, and Indiana came out on top.
The team was the Pacers in that it said “Indiana Pacers” on the jersey, but this game didn’t feature most of the normal players. The starters and Domantas Sabonis all sat out to rest, which meant this game featured mostly younger players alongside a few veterans. Combine that with the Hawks youth, and you have one of the fastest games of the season. It was very fun.
The Pacers trailed by 2 with just 3 seconds to go in the game. Thankfully, Edmond Sumner was able to rescue the team. after catching an inbounds pass in the corner, Sumner turned to attempt a game-winning 3. Just then, a defender came flying at him. Sumner alertly double-pumped the shot and drew a foul on the outside shot. 3 free throws later and Indiana walked out victorious.
I cannot stress how much of a riot this game was. Watching the young Pacers get an opportunity to play is usually fun, but when it is an extended opportunity AND is a high scoring game, it’s all smiles the whole way through for the observer. It’s hard to imagine a more fun way for the Pacers to close the regular season.
Oh, and for you gamblers, they hit the over tonight! Considering Victor Oladipo only played 36 games, I would call that a successful, and impressive, regular season.
Season high’s galore
Multiple Pacers took advantage of an opportunity tonight and walked out of the game with a season-high in scoring:
- Tyreke Evans
- TJ Leaf (career-high)
- Alize Johnson (career-high)
- Edmond Sumner (career-high)
- Davon Reed
It was great to see everyone contribute. I’m sure some of the younger guys are happy they made a solid final impression this season.
Shaking off the rust
Evans missed the Pacers game against the Nets with an injury and Darren Collison missed the 3 games prior. They both played in order to get some rhythm back before the postseason.
Evans has a season-high in scoring and shot 9/14 from the field. Collison only shot 1/3 but looked spunkier than he did on Sunday. It was the right move to have those guys out there. They are more playoff ready.
Goodbye, regular season
That’s all 82, folks! What a ride it was. The Pacers finished 48-34, an identical record to last year and tied for the 10th best record in franchise history (NBA portion, thanks Pat Boylan!) Now the attention turns to the Celtics and the postseason.
For the last time of the regular season, player grades:
The Pacers open the playoffs this weekend in Boston, probably on Sunday since the Boston Bruins host a game on Saturday night. It’s playoff time.