By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Indiana Pacers got back on track in the ongoing NBA regular season after crushing the Dallas Mavericks on the road, 137-120, on March 6, 2024.
After suffering back-to-back losses during their previous trips, the Pacers found their lost offensive intensity just in time to improve to eighth place in the Eastern Conference rankings.
Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana’s superstar who delivered a pair of sub-par performances for the Pacers during their losses, shone against the Mavericks and tallied a double-double outing of 19 points, 11 assists, and six rebounds.
Haliburton had a much-needed bounce-back game for Indiana and shot the ball efficiently from the field, draining eight out of his 15 total attempts.
Aside from his convincing performance, it was Indiana’s lethal balanced offensive attack that torched Dallas as seven other players reached the double-digit scoring mark for the Pacers.
Myles Turner top-scored the Pacers after dropping 20 points backstopped by Benedict Mathurin’s 19, Obi Toppin’s 14, TJ McConnell’s 13, Ben Sheppard’s 12, Jalen Smith’s 11, and Andrew Nembhard’s 10.
Indiana quickly found its footing as early as the first quarter after successfully dictating the pace, outrunning the Mavericks with their signature high-octane attack led by Haliburton’s court vision.
The Pacers only held a slim four-point lead after the first two quarters and officially left Dallas behind in the third when they outscored them 32-18.
With such a huge deficit to handle in the fourth, the Mavericks, led by their superstar duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, failed to score in bunches and conceded early in the final frame with still three minutes remaining in the game.
Despite the losing effort, Doncic had another spectacular outing for the Mavericks after ending the game with a triple-double performance of 39 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Irving added 23 points, seven rebounds, and three assists but shot an inefficient 8/19 from the shooting field.
The Pacers will seek to win another game on March 8, 2024, against the Minnesota Timberwolves while Dallas aims to redeem themselves against the Miami Heat.
