After taking home four wins in five games and snapping the Philadelphia 76ers’ eight-game win streak, the Indiana Pacers walked into their Sunday night matchup against the Orlando Magic with high hopes.
Unfortunately, those hopes were quickly squashed as the red-hot Magic blitzed the Pacers from the jump. They led by 23 in the first quarter, their lead peaked at 40 in the third, and they finished with a 128-116 victory over Indiana.
Garbage time came early for both sides as Orlando won in a wire-to-wire blowout that rivaled the Boston Celtics game for the Pacers’ worst loss of the season.
With how bad the game was, instead of two studs and one dud, we’ll be hitting the reverse button: Two duds and one stud. Let’s take a look.
Dud - Tyrese Haliburton
BREAKING NEWS: Tyrese Haliburton is human. The Pacers All-Star has been having an incredible season, but against the Magic, he struggled mightily.
Indiana’s point guard failed to deliver his usual awe-inspiring performance. He was rough in terms of his scoring and playmaking abilities, leaving a lot to be desired against Orlando.
Haliburton ended the game with 12 points, two rebounds, and three assists while shooting 4-of-14 from the floor and 1-of-3 from behind the three-point line. To make matters worse, he was a team-worst -30 on the night.
That said, those freaking out on social media about Haliburton’s performance have been overreacting. One bad game doesn’t mean he’s a bad player. It just means he’s not above a bump in the road. Expect Haliburton to bounce back in a big way sooner rather than later.
Stud - Jordan Nwora
Jarace Walker, who earned more playing time than normal thanks to garbage time minutes, was in consideration for this spot, but it ended up going to Jordan Nwora instead.
Like Walker, Nwora hasn’t earned regular playing time this season, but with the Orlando Magic picking up a blowout win, he got the chance to earn some end-of-the-game minutes.
Last year, after the Pacers acquired Nwora at the deadline, the 6-foot-8 wing played great, shooting efficiently from distance and playing 24.6 minutes per game.
Against the Magic, Nwora showed off some of the success that he had last season, as, in just 23:11, the 25-year-old certainly made his case for more minutes.
Nwora ended the game with a team-high 19 points to go along with five rebounds, one assist, and three steals. He shot 8-of-11 from the floor and 2-of-5 from beyond the three-point line.
With how well Nwora played, fans were discussing why he hasn’t got more minutes yet this season. Social media was buzzing post-game, most praising Nwora’s play.
The difficulty with that idea is how much depth the Pacers have at the wing position. Bruce Brown, Aaron Nesmith, Bennedict Mathurin, and others have a case for minutes over him, but maybe Rick Carlisle should try to fit Nwora into the mix a bit more moving forward.
Dud - Myles Turner
Last season was the best year of Myles Turner’s career so far. Playing next to Tyrese Haliburton opened up a ton of opportunities for him on the offensive end.
And so far this season, Turner has been finding much of that same success. He’s been very efficient on the offensive end, and his block numbers are just as stellar as usual.
Unfortunately, much like Haliburton, Turner had a very rough night against the Magic. To be fair, almost everyone on the Pacers had a tough night, but we’ll be highlighting Turner here.
Turner finished the game against Orlando with 10 points, four rebounds, three assists, one steal, and three blocks while shooting 3-of-10 from the field and 0-of-3 from beyond the three-point arc.
His one steal and three blocks may lead to the assumption of a solid offensive game, but in reality, the Magic had things way too easy in this game. It wasn’t totally Turner’s fault, but his defensive stats are a bit deceiving.
In addition to his overall lackluster performance, Turner also got bodied by Magic big man Goga Bitadze on the offensive end. Turner went up for a layup, and Bitadze vehemently rejected him.
It wasn’t Turner’s best showing of the season, but one bad game shouldn’t define his season. Just like Haliburton, he should bounce back soon.