It was a slow start for both teams’ starters, with turnovers and misses galore. However, when Charlotte brought in her defensively focused second unit, the dynamic changed. For a back-to-back game, Clifford went with a Smith Jr-Martin-McDaniels-Thor-Williams lineup and it excelled. Indiana remained scoreless for the final 4:30 of the quarter and Charlotte held a 12-point lead at the end of the first 27-15.
Mark Williams was extremely active in the early 2nd quarter, typing rebounds, blocking shots and showing good chemistry with LaMelo Ball in the pick and roll. However, shortly after LaMelo committed his 3rd foul, he was benched for the remainder of the half. The offense struggled for the remainder of the 3rd with Rozier and Smith Jr. shouldering the playmaking burden. The Pacers were able to take advantage of a stagnant offense and force 8 turnovers, leading to multiple runouts. Indiana came all the way back to take the lead and went into halftime with a 47-45 two-point lead.
The 3rd quarter started in the worst way as LaMelo helped Ball on first possession from the weak side and canceled his 4th foul first. Clifford decided to stay with LaMelo and was rewarded with two quick 3s from Ball. Both teams went back and forth until the final two minutes of the quarter when Charlotte put on a sudden 10-0 run thanks to some hard shots from Terry Rozier and excessive fouling from Indiana. Charlotte went 4th with a 6 point lead.
Charlotte started well in 4th place and extended the lead to 11 but quickly gave it all back. For four minutes, Charlotte struggled to rebound the ball, which resulted in Hield and Nembhard opening 3s, allowing Indiana to tighten the lead. To make matters worse, LaMelo recorded his 5th foul with 8 minutes left in the 4th quarter, making him a spectator by the 4-minute mark.
This was a low point game by either side, largely due to Indiana shooting 13-38 from three and missing several open looks. Mason Plumlee deserves credit, he went 6-6 off the FT line including some clutch ones on the stretch but struggled with fouling and rebounds in the last 2 minutes.
Unfortunately, Charlotte broke up at key moments on the track. Myles Turner dominated inside with back-to-back three-pointers, LaMelo managed to foul with a jump shot and Andrew Nembhard made some hard shots over defenders. Charlotte had just 31 seconds to go to level the game with a 3, but Dennis Smith Jr. opted for a layup. The Hornets then called for the foul, but unfortunately the Pacers managed to see it thanks to a HUGE block from Turner on Plumlee.
Despite the loss, that game indicated that Charlotte is beginning to find her groove, with the return of Dennis Smith Jr. and Cody Martin having a positive impact. This was a good, competitive loss to an Eastern Conference playoff team and helps put them up first for Lottery night.
