The Indiana Pacers’ winning ways continued on Friday night as they absolutely rolled the Atlanta Hawks, winning by an impressive final score of 150-116.
Despite Dejounte Murray’s 30 points, which come at a time when his name is being tossed around in trade rumors, the Pacers’ offense was too much for Atlanta’s lackluster defense to handle.
Perhaps most impressively, however, was the fact that Indiana dished out 50 assists on 60 made baskets - just three short of an NBA record. They shot 63.8% from the field and 48.7% from behind the three-point line.
Normally, we roll with two studs and one dud, but this game was absolutely incredible, so we’re going to ditch the negativity. Here are three studs from the Pacers’ monster win over the Hawks.
Stud - TJ McConnell
Assists are going to be the leading story of the night, so it’s tough not to include TJ McConnell on the list of the top players from Friday night, as he absolutely showed out in that area.
McConnell ended the game with 10 points, three rebounds, 10 assists, and three steals in 22:48 of action off the pine. He shot an efficient 5-of-6 from the field, too.
Having a veteran like McConnell coming off the bench is a huge advantage for the Pacers. He’s someone who can slow the game down and get everyone involved without all the drama of being desperate for his own looks.
Before the season, head coach Rick Carlisle spoke about how McConnell might not be in the rotation, but it’s looking like that idea ended pretty quickly.
Stud - Myles Turner
The Indiana Pacers didn’t do much missing on Friday night, and a big part of that was due to the fact that the Atlanta Hawks defense is terrible. We’re talking “almost-as-bad-as-the-Pacers” terrible.
That said, whenever a player puts up great scoring numbers, it’s noteworthy, and for Myles Turner, that was absolutely the case against the Hawks. He was pouring in the points.
Turner finished the game with a team-high 27 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block while shooting 10-of-14 from the field and 2-of-3 from behind the three-point line. He was also a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe.
Before the Pacers’ current win streak, Turner had some tough defensive nights that got a decent amount of publicity, especially when paired with poor scoring games.
However, he seems to have turned things around. (Even though it’s pretty easy to have an efficient scoring night when going up against Atlanta’s defense.)
At this time of year, Turner is normally hearing his name pop up in trade rumors, but for the first time in years, he should feel secure about his place in Indiana. He’s been playing well, and the team should want to keep him around.
Stud - Tyrese Haliburton
To close 2023, Tyrese Haliburton churned out a pair of back-to-back games with 20 or more assists. It was an absurd display of passing that led to two Pacers wins.
At the core of almost every Pacers win is Haliburton. The All-Star point guard has been nothing short of incredible this year and has a serious chance to start the All-Star Game in Indiana this season.
Well, while he may not have reached the 20-assist mark on Friday night, it was only because the Pacers were absolutely blowing out the Atlanta Hawks.
Haliburton only played 25:12 of action and didn’t play in the entire fourth quarter. Despite that, he still ended the night with 10 points, eight rebounds, 18 assists, two steals, and one block while shooting 4-of-6 from the floor and 2-of-4 from deep.
Putting up 18 assists in just over 25 minutes is absolutely insane and a testament to how great Haliburton is. He completely outdueled Trae Young, who finished with 13 points and six assists on 4-of-18 shooting from the field and 1-of-11 shooting from beyond the three-point line.
Every time it looks as though Haliburton may have reached his peak as a passer, he does something else that’s even more impressive, and leading his team to a 50-assist game definitely falls under that distinction.