INDIANAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� Pascal Siakam had 28 points and 11 rebounds, Aaron Nesmith scored 16 points and the Indiana Pacers beat the Brooklyn Nets 121-100 on Saturday night.
All-Star Tyrese Haliburton finished with 14 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers, overcoming a 6-for-18 shooting night, and his backup T.J. McConnell finished with 13 points. McConnell has scored in double figures 10 times in his past 17 games.
鈥淧ascal was great,鈥� Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said of Siakam, who made 11 of 22 shots, all six free throws and added three steals. 鈥淗e was great on offense. Defensively, he had his best game.鈥�
Cam Thomas had 22 points and eight rebounds for the Nets, who were outscored 82-42 in the paint in the teams鈥� first meeting of the season. Brooklyn shot 43% from the field, committed 21 turnovers and fell to 1-4 on its six-game road trip.
鈥淕et 82 points in the paint, 17 offensive rebounds and 21 turnovers, that鈥檚 tough to beat a team like that,鈥� Brooklyn interim coach Kevin Ollie said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 have 21 turnovers. Got to protect your paint. We got to keep people in front of us.鈥�
Indiana trailed 30-25 at the end of the first quarter and led just 59-57 at halftime before blowing the game open in the second half, leading by 27 in the fourth quarter. The victory was the Pacers鈥� seventh of the season by a margin of at least 20 points.
鈥淛ust get to the paint and great things will happen,鈥� Nesmith said. 鈥淲hen you get to the paint, you tend to score more. We put emphasis on that.鈥�
Cam Johnson scored 14 points for the Nets, Dennis Schroder and 13 points and five assists, and Dorian Finney-Smith finished with 12 points. Brooklyn, in 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings, had gone 6-1 in its previous seven visits to Indiana.
鈥淲e got to do all the tough things,鈥� Ollie said. 鈥淒id it first half. Basketball was beautiful. Second half we went into (isolation) basketball. We鈥檙e not good enough to do that.鈥�
The sixth-place Pacers shot 48% from the floor and carried an 86-78 lead into the fourth quarter despite making only 4 of 26 3-point attempts to that point. Indiana won the rebounding battle 59-48 and prevailed for the third time in its past four games.
鈥淚鈥檓 all about the team,鈥� Siakam said. 鈥淚 try my best to bring that energy every time. Physical (defense), continue to challenge, multiple efforts, guard, I thought we did that. I want to make sure I鈥檓 all about winning. That鈥檚 my focus.鈥�
UP NEXT
Nets: Face the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night in Austin, Texas.
Pacers: Host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night.
___
AP NBA:
___
AP NBA:
Chris Goff, The Associated Press
