Two weekends ago, the Indiana Pacers took care of business by defeating a pair of teams that were below the .500 mark. With wins against the Philadelphia 76ers and New Orleans Pelicans, head coach Rick Carlisle and his team kicked off what has now turned into their largest win streak of the season.
On Monday night, the Pacers won a fifth game in a row and third on the road against a Western Conference foe. With another strong effort on defense in the fourth quarter, Indiana held off the Golden State Warriors.
All five starters scored in double figures which is great. But not everyone had their best game at the Chase Center where this season's NBA All-Star Game and Weekend will be held.
Now, let's take a look at the winners and losers in the Pacers' 30th game this season.
Winner: Myles Turner
The team's leading scorer in this contest put up another double-double. With 23 points and 10 rebounds, the Pacers' starting center was arguably one of the best players for either squad tonight.
In the final three minutes of the game, Myles Turner made a field goal via his second offensive rebound that gave the Pacers a 102-99 lead over the Warriors. Within the next 90 seconds of play, he hauled in a key defensive rebound.
He also made a 25-foot three-pointer with 16 seconds left in the game. Turner pulled in the final missed shot of the game to close out the night.
Turner made three of his seven shots from deep in addition to both of his free throws. One of the league's best shot-blockers this season, the 10-year veteran added three more rejections to his stat sheet Monday night.
The former Texas Longhorn's production against the Warriors was better than his season averages in terms of points, rebounds, and field goal percentage per game.
Losers: Thomas Bryant & Ben Sheppard
While the Pacers' bench has been a bright spot offensively for the past season and a half, two players from the second unit struggled heavily on Monday night.
Thomas Bryant missed all three of his field goals as he settled for two shots from behind the arc. His only two points came from the free-throw line.
He also had a plus/minus of -10. His teammate, Ben Sheppard, had the team's lowest plus/minus of the evening with a -22.
In 11 minutes, Sheppard also missed both of his looks from three-point land. In the past three games that he's played in, the second-year guard has scored less than three points twice.
Winner: Tyrese Haliburton
Indiana's starting point guard has really been on a tear as of late. Not only has Tyrese Haliburton scored in double figures eight times in the Pacers' past 10 games, but he has also recorded his fourth double-double in the past five games.
Despite his shot looking off from deep (2-7 from three-point range), Haliburton made all of his attempts from inside the arc. He added two more points by making a pair of free throws, too.
After committing four turnovers in the win against the Pelicans two Sundays ago, Haliburton has only coughed up the ball four times in his past three games. The All-Star point guard snagged six rebounds and two steals.
Haliburton's defense was above par against Golden State. He did not commit a single foul in the game and his plus/minus was +28, the team high.
Loser: Aaron Nesmith
Normally a starter for the Pacers, the small forward has been on the bench nursing an ankle injury. The fifth-year swingman has not seen the court since November 1.
With the Pacers on a five-game winning streak and getting back to .500, Carlisle has found the ideal starting lineup with Turner, Siakam, Haliburton, along with Bennedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard.
Obi Toppin, Jarace Walker, and T.J. McConnell are the three most productive players in the Pacers' second unit with Bryant and Sheppard seeing minutes, too. Even though Aaron Nesmith is still a few weeks away from returning to the court, he may not be guaranteed his spot back in the starting lineup.
Nine of the 10 players for Indiana played at least 10 minutes or more on Monday. All five starters logged at least 33 minutes.
With Nesmith missing significant playing time, he has almost become expendable to the Pacers. With Indiana's latest win, they are only two games back of the Milwaukee Bucks from the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference Standings.