Short-staffed Pacers hold off Kings

Field Level Media|published: Fri 19th January, 01:09 2024

Jan 18, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin (00) takes a shot over Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis (10) during the first quarter at Golden 1 Center. credits: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

Ben Mathurin had 25 points and T.J. McConnell 20 in a balanced attack and the Indiana Pacers, playing short-handed after their big trade with the Toronto Raptors, survived a frantic finish to turn back the host Sacramento Kings 126-121 on Thursday night.

The win came as Indiana awaited the Pacers debut of Pascal Siakam, acquired in a trade from the Raptors in a three-team deal in which the Pacers gave up Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora, two first-round picks and a conditional third first-rounder to Toronto.

With Siakam expected to play Friday night at Portland, Tyrese Haliburton and Aaron Nesmith injured, and Brown and Nwora on their way to Toronto, the Pacers had just 11 players for their matchup with the Kings.

All nine Pacers who saw action scored, seven in double figures, as the visitors rebounded from consecutive road defeats at Denver and Utah to win for the 10th time in their last 13 games.

Kevin Huerter had 31 points, Keegan Murray 27, De'Aaron Fox 24 and Domantas Sabonis 21 as part of a triple-double to pace the Kings, who lost their fourth straight.

The Pacers led most of the way, including 122-106 with just 2:20 remaining before the Kings nearly forced overtime.

Sacramento got a 3-pointer and a layup from Huerter, a dunk and a layup from Murray, a dunk and a layup from Fox, and two free throws from Sabonis in a 15-2 burst that all of a sudden made it a three-point game with 32 seconds to go.

After McConnell missed, Fox misfired on a potential game-tying 3-pointer. The Pacers then fouled Malik Monk with 3.2 seconds remaining to prevent another 3-point attempt.

Monk missed both free throws, the second one intentionally, and the Pacers' Jalen Smith turned his game-high 13th rebound into two clinching free throws.

Smith, who also had 17 points, and McConnell, who also had a game-high-tying 10 assists, recorded double-doubles for the Pacers, while Myles Turner chipped in 18 points, Jarace Walker 15, Buddy Hield 12 and Obi Toppin 10.

Sabonis tied McConnell for assist honors with 10 and pulled in a team-high 11 rebounds for the Kings, whose bench was outscored 34-16 by the short-handed visitors.

—Field Level Media