Pressure, shooting help the Pacers outlast Timberwolves in overtime in preseason opener

Pacers torture T-Wolves with full-court pressure

The Pacers have been adamant all offseason that while they would have to adjust to the loss of All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, they would still try to maintain as much of the fast-paced identity of last year’s NBA Finals team as possible. Coach Rick Carlisle and the front office were very clear that would include sustained full-court man-to-man pressure defense.

The Pacers showed Tuesday that they weren’t going to shy away from that standard in games that don’t count. They pressured inbounds passes off made baskets right out of the gate and the Timberwolves didn’t seem ready for that. The Pacers recorded four steals in the first quarter, three in the backcourt, and had eight steals by halftime. They finished with 12 total steals, forcing 21 Timberwolves turnovers. Those allowed for easy baskets as the Pacers were credited with 28 fast-break points, 20 in the first half, to the Timberwolves’ four. They had 30 points off turnovers to the Timberwolves’ 22.

The Pacers still clearly want to run and exhaust opponents. Defensive pressure is arguably the most important component of that equation and they still obviously have that going for them.

Pacers starters get strong start

The Pacers didn’t put much of a burden on their top players. The four established members of the starting five — point guard Andrew Nembhard, shooting guard Bennedict Mathurin, small forward Aaron Nesmith and power forward Pascal Siakam — checked out for good with 3:46 to go in the second quarter.

But all four made their minutes count and they outperformed Minnesota’s top players. Nembhard was +10 in 11:04, and Nesmith, Mathurin and Siakam were each +14 in about 14 minutes each.

They brought pressure on defense, combining for five steals with Siakam grabbing two and the rest recording one each. They connected with sharp ball movement on offense and their shot-making was excellent. They combined to score 42 of the Pacers’ 65 first-half points, shooting 14-of-27 from the floor and 6-of-12 from 3-point range.

Siakam led the group with 14 points, making 5-of-9 field goals, including 3-of-5 3-pointers. He operated as a secondary ball-handler with Nembhard and showed little rust in that regard, recording three assists without a turnover.

Nesmith scored 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting and showed aggression in looking for his jumper. One of his 3s was a catch-and-shoot jumper in the corner, which is where he gets a lot of his shots. However, he also hit a step-back 3 and a foul-line jumper when the Timberwolves went to a zone.

Mathurin also hit a catch-and-shoot 3 at the right wing and also finished two circus layups in transition for eight points. Nembhard also had eight points to go with two assists, two rebounds and a steal. It’s clear their lives will be more difficult without Haliburton ,and none of the four created the same amount of gravity Haliburton usually does, but they still executed well as a unit.

The Pacers led 65-57 at the half thanks to the starters’ contributions and built a 24-point lead in the third quarter. Their fade came mostly in the fourth, when they used players on Exhibit 10 and two-way contracts who will likely spend most of their seasons with the Noblesville Boom.

Pacers sharp from deep

One of the biggest questions the Pacers will face is how they will replace the 3-point shooting of Haliburton and Myles Turner, who left for the Bucks in free agency. Haliburton led the Pacers with 218 total 3-pointers last season and Turner was second with 156. Siakam was next with 126, Obi Toppin had 110 and no one else cracked 100.

Tuesday’s performance doesn’t necessarily answer that question, but the Pacers were both aggressive in looking for 3-pointers and accurate, finishing 20-of-46.

Several of those 3s came from players unlikely to get many NBA minutes. Dennis was 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and Slawson was 3-of-6. Slawson is on an Exhibit 10 deal and will almost certainly spend his entire season with the Boom. Dennis is on a two-way deal and should also play mostly in Noblesville, as long as Nembhard, T.J. McConnell and Delon Wright stay mostly healthy. (Though McConnell and Wright both left the game with injuries Tuesday.) However, the Pacers got enough outside shots from rotation players to see important progress there.

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