Thunder's Nine Game Home Win Streak Snapped by Pacers
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Myles Turner bristled when a reporter suggested that Indiana's win over Oklahoma City should be considered a big deal.
“We’re a good team that scores a lot of points too,” Turner said. “That’s mostly what this league has come to. The difference tonight was our defense. Whenever we lock in on that side, it’s a different game for us.”
Turner scored 24 points to help the Pacers defeat the Thunder 121-111 on Tuesday night. Tyrese Haliburton had 18 points and 12 assists and Pascal Siakam added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers, who shot 53.9% from the field and snapped Oklahoma City’s three-game win streak.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said Siakam was important on both ends. Indiana added him in a deal with Toronto in January.
“Games like tonight are the reason you make a trade for a guy like Pascal Siakam," Carlisle said. "He can create, he has length defensively, he can affect shots at the rim defensively and he rebounds.”
The Pacers held Oklahoma City to 43.4% shooting.
“They missed some shots they normally make probably," Carlisle said. “But our guys were working to make it hard on them.”
Shai Gilgeous Alexander had 30 points and 10 rebounds, Lu Dort scored 18 points and Chet Holmgren added 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Thunder, who fell into a tie with the Denver Nuggets at the top of the Western Conference standings.
“Just too many possessions where we weren’t leveraging each other and working together, which is a good lesson," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. "You know, the game gets a lot harder when we do that. So again, we got to learn from it, look at it. We’re not going to be perfect every night. There’s lessons in every game. We’re gonna learn them from this one.”
Gordon Hayward got his first start in 11 games since being traded to Oklahoma City and scored nine points in 30 minutes. He started in place of Jalen Williams, who was out with a sprained right ankle. Williams is Oklahoma City's No. 2 scorer this season with 19 points per game.
Indiana led 56-40 with just over a minute left in the first half before the Thunder started rolling. Oklahoma City cut its deficit to 58-46 at halftime, then opened the second half on an 8-2 run to trim its deficit to 60-54. The Thunder finally tied the game at 80 on a 3-pointer by Lu Dort with about three minutes left in the quarter and took and 85-84 lead in a 3-pointer by Isaiah Joe a minute later. Indiana closed the quarter strong to take a 94-87 lead into the fourth.
Indiana led 115-109 with 45.6 seconds to play and had the ball. Oklahoma City's Lu Dort was called for fouling Indiana's Andrew Nembhard on the arm late in the shot clock, and Oklahoma City challenged. It was unsuccessful, and Nembhard made both free throws to help Indiana remain in control.
“I thought they showed great resilience," Daigneault said of the Pacers. "Credit them. They played really well from the jump. And then fended off a couple different runs of ours in the second half on the road, showed great poise. So they definitely deserve a lot of credit.”
UP NEXT
Pacers: Host the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.
Thunder: Host the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night.