By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Indiana Pacers continued to frustrate the struggling Sacramento Kings after crushing them in an inter-conference matchup, 122-95, in the ongoing NBA regular season on December 23, 2024.
With the win, the Pacers dealt Sacramento its fourth loss in a row and are yet to re-enter the NBA winning column after a winless week.
The Kings had a great start to the ball game, limiting the Pacers to just 21 points in the first 12 minutes of the ball game courtesy of their tight defensive schemes in the pick-and-roll coverage.
Domantas Sabonis was stellar in the opening frame after bullying his way underneath, backstopped by De’Aaron Fox’s microwave sequence when he converted a jelly layup and a step-back trey.
However, Sacramento will only have a short window of hope as Indiana took over in the last three periods, outscoring the Kings, 101-72.
Indiana showcased better ball movement and scrapped their paint-centric offensive style to a fluid motion set. The Pacers kicked off the third with back-to-back floppy actions, followed by a fist down play that forced Sacramento to call a timeout.
Despite the adjustments that the Kings deployed to slow down the Pacers, Pascal Siakam helped the Eastern Conference squad restore order and punished the mismatch he received down the post.
With the size advantage that he had over Sacramento’s DeMar DeRozan, Siakam went unconscious midway through the third and tallied eight points in just three minutes.
Siakam’s personal scoring avalanche helped the Pacers balloon their largest lead to 30, and sent Sacramento to a familiar place when they lost back-to-back games against the Los Angeles Lakers in their past two meetings.
With nothing going for Sacramento, head coach Mike Brown decided to pull out all of his starters with five minutes still remaining in the ball game, sensing frustration with another disappointing loss.
Siakam led Indiana with 19 efficient points built from 7/14 shooting from the field alongside 10 rebounds and three assists. TJ McConell, their sixth man guard, nearly dropped a triple-double stat-line after tallying 12 markers, 10 dimes, and seven boards.
Myles Turner is also slowly coming back to form after missing the last games with an injury, chipping in 15 points, six rebounds, two blocks, two steals, and a dime.
Sacramento will aim to bounce back and end their skid on December 27, 2024, as they take on the Detroit Pistons while the Pacers target its fifth straight win today, against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors.