Where would the Indiana Pacers be without Pascal Siakam? (Nets-Pacers Game Recap)

Where would the Indiana Pacers be without Pascal Siakam? (Nets-Pacers Game Recap)

This is Tyrese hurn and you’re listening to setting the pace Pacer Nation what is going on welcome back to another episode here of your goto Pacers podcast the pace I’m your host Alex golden joined today by Michael J FY fi how’s it going oh life is good life is always better

After a win and anytime you could you know walk in a Monday a new week coming off of a win what do you have to complain about I got nothing I like when you always talk about walking into work with an extra pep in your step but don’t

You work from home I do walk from home maybe I’m walking into the kitchen I I I don’t know but look there’s nowhere for me to personally go but I know that might not be the case for some of our listeners so I hope that you guys are

Walking in work with a little bit extra pep in the step does your wife ever be like hey can you tone it down a little bit you’re being a little bit absolutely all the time seven days a week about what just like your excitement after a win or something or like your upset

After loss n just you know I it’s she she works from home she’s home I’m home it I’m sure Public Enemy Number One but you know what I get excited and that that’ll never change I I I I respect that fash you never never change who you

Are but we are here to talk about the Pacers 121 100 victory over the Brooklyn Nets but before we get into that I just wanted to let everybody know quickly uh if you like this show and you want to help support this show there is a way

You can do that without giving us any money it it’s simply by just taking your time and not pushing fast forward through any of the advertisements on this podcast so uh if you don’t mind and you would like to help this show out I’m going to do a better job of spreading

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All of your support of listening to this show but if you could just you know maybe take one for the team here and spend a few minutes listening to some ads that won’t that will that will help the show out and there is ways you can

Speed it up so if you want to go from you know 1X to 2x during the ads feel free to speed listen to the ads that also helps but uh anyway let’s let’s talk about something a little bit more exciting than listening to advertisements on the podcast let’s talk

About the Indiana Pacers putting on a very great defensive game once again finding a way to beat a Brooklyn Nets team that was hanging around for a little bit here and taking care of business at home when a game they really needed to win yeah

Yeah look anytime you can hold a team to a 100 in then in today’s era is that’s fantastic especially for a Pacers team that had questions on defense all year but you mention hanging around the Nets were in control for much of that first half I know Indiana wenton into halftime

With a two-point lead but the first half you were just like what’s going on I mean Tyrese was was sluggish the Pacers were a little bit sluggish everything changed in that second half half but for that first half I was like this is just not how you wanted to respond coming off

Of that let down against Chicago no you’re right I think they got off to a little bit of a slow start and it was it was a really poor shooting night once again from the Pacers uh specifically Tyrese Halbert it’s it just continues to be uh a horrible experience for him from

Outside the outside on the ark but one and nine from three in this game f it was a big story he finished a game six of 18 but I thought he looked much different in that third quarter was definitely more forceful attacking the basket and was able to get some and ones

And it’s like okay if we see Tyrese kind of take this approach to scoring offensively I think it’s going to open up more for that three-point shot uh I thought it was great how he threw his hands up to the heavens after he finally hit a three after missing his first

Eight attempts in in the in the game so it was really great but this game there’s no doubt about it in my mind he only played 28 minutes but he had 20 at 28 points on 11 to 22 shooting 11 rebounds four assist three steals he was

A plus 22 for the game Pascal SE yakum this was a pascal SE yakum game and so it kind of uh brought the question to my mind during the game where would this Pacers team be at right now fi had they not traded for Pascal seaka I I I think

They would have been very you know on a major slump because look burce Brown a bringing what you know and Jordan War ain’t bringing what Pascal seak has been bringing to this team maybe they could have held on a buddy heeld maybe but at the same point this Pacers team I think

Would would probably be in firm playin territory and never really being a threat to be able to do anything in the playoffs right now you could start to see it looks like shakum you know is I you want to say getting into like a major Rhythm but it’s like it takes time

And I think that right now I mean you’re just seeing like okay this is every reason why you Pony up those first round picks to be able to get a guy of Pascal siakam’s caliber and I mean Carla was gushing up about seaka after the game

There were some great quotes uh one of them was basically saying you know Pascal was great tonight he was great on offense and defensively he had his best game it wasn’t even close uh we’re really proud of him this is what top players have to do these guys have to

Set the tone and make uh and get your hands dirty loose ball plays that don’t show up in the stat sheet that’s exactly what seak was doing against Brooklyn and we know he needed more shots he took more shots in the fourth quarter alone six shots after against you know Chicago

He had one or two in the fourth quarter alone so it was a big difference to see it was great to see Pascal be more aggressive and one thing I really enjoyed watching from him is how he would kind of initiate the offense it was like he’d get a rebound he’d take

The ball up the court and it wasn’t always hey let’s pass it to Tyrese and kind of get things going but to answer my own question you know it is a bit of a rhetorical question too because I think everybody knows like without Pascal yakum this team would not be

Where they are right now and that’s you know in the top six based on on their record right now but when I look at Pascal SE yakum and and I’m not saying this to to put Tyrese halberton down like this is still Tyrese halton’s team but Pascal sakam is the best player

Right now on the Indiana Pacers and and Tyrese Halton is struggling a little bit still battling from that injury you can tell his explosiveness is not the same we talk about this at nauseum on every single episode but it’s clear to me right now that Pascal SE yakum is the

Best overall player on this team on both sides of the basketball and and they need him to be great to continue to go in the they want to go and so if he can continue to to be this aggressive and I Know Carl spoke about how fast he was

Playing and he almost needed a slow down a little bit I I would rather H hear that than hear him not being aggressive enough so it was a huge turning point in the game when Pascal seakan picked up his second foul early in the first quarter he goes out of the game doesn’t

Come back in like he had been with that second unit they kind of rote it out with an all bench lineup and that bench lineup was not very good and so they had to put Pascal in for Obby to and I think like 3 minutes into the second quarter

To try to get some scoring out there and then the Pacers went on like a 7-2 run right after that so I I think you’re slowly starting to see just how impactful he is and and when you talked about Carlile said this was siakam’s best defensive game when when Dustin

Doir asked SE yakum about that he said well I try to play great defense every night I’m not just trying to do it you know like every once in a while so SE yakum is working his butt off defensively to get better and and I think we’re just starting to see like

He’s slowly but surely figuring things out with where he belongs at on this team no it’s true and look one of one of the quotes he was really talking about is that he’s all about the team he’s really all about winning that’s his focus and I love that because you know

Winning is fun and I feel that if the Pacers are able to win hey it’s a no-brainer for shakum to resign I know a lot of Pacer fans think it’s a it’s a done deal but still you want to see the Pacers finish strong and be able to have

Some success in the playoffs and the Raptors they they weren’t having that type of success so I think it’s it’s exciting when you see seak playing to that potential of you know this is the guy that Indiana went after and really you know accumulated those assets to be

Able to make that big move for seak the 22 shots ties his most as a Pacer so it was everything that Indiana needed when we had been saying before there was just not enough touches I mean 12 shot attempts against Chicago he he UPS it to

22 you can’t tell me the Pacers weren’t better at as a result and obviously it’s something I’ve touched on before when siakam’s rebounding the Pacers are winning he had a double double with 11 boards they’re now five and one when seak has a double double as a Pacer yeah

They’re three and0 too when he get when he gets 20 points and 10 rebounds in a game they’re three- two I believe it is in the games that he’s had I think 20 or more field goal attempts with the Pacers too so obviously that’s not like a big

Sample size whatsoever but it’s like we need to see more touches from him just see him be more aggressive but in this game fi some big numbers stand out to me first and foremost like the points in the paint differential Indiana scored their most points in the paint this

Season 82 points in the paint compared to 42 for Brooklyn and another stat that I just realized as we’re talking 105 shots for the Pacers compared to just 77 for the Brooklyn Nets kind of wild I I didn’t realize that yeah that is that has an incredible difference

They did have 15 more free throws than than Indiana uh but you still and I think they ended up having uh let’s see here they had eight more turnovers so that could kind of be where that difference makes up but I was shocked I was like how did the Pacers have 28 more

Field goal attempts yeah I mean I mean look that’s that’s a winning recipe it’s not something that you’re able to really duplicate uh often that’s definitely an outlier of like hey that’s not going to happen too much but in this game I think that that was incredibly uh essential

But yeah you talked about the the damage that Indiana did in the paint I mean that was awesome to see anytime you’re going to outscore team in the paint by 40 in know almost double them up that’s a big difference but forcing the 20 turnovers I think that that it was

Another thing that was just uh a big difference maker then also IND Indiana winning the rebounding battle I feel that they did they got their hands dirty in this game they did everything that you needed to do and in that third quarter I mean it was it was very

Evident who was the better team Indiana held Brooklyn to five of 18 shooting in that third quarter and eventually they grew that lead to 27 points and and we talked about it earlier in this episode and Brooklyn was in control for the majority of that first half once that

Third quarter started I mean there was no looking back for the Pacers yeah it was great to see Indiana outs score I believe Brooklyn by 20 was it 19 points in the 19 points in the second half something like that I think yeah 19 19 points yeah I think so because they were

Up by two at halftime so they end ended up winning the game by 21 so they outscored Brooklyn by 19 points in the second half and really did what they had to do and just put this team away quickly and it’s like they finally had a really good strong third quarter and

They got off to a slow start once again it wasn’t great they had some good looks though I mean Tyrese halberton was getting some really good looks here fji and and that’s what’s a little bit frustrating and I think I think the injuri is part of it I think the other

Part of it is it’s starting to become more of a mental thing uh he came out early from halftime to get some shots up and it’s just like eventually the doors are going to blow off the roof and he’s going to start hitting everything and I know that Carlile mention that too but

Like this team had to find a way to win when they weren’t hitting their threes just six of 30 you go back to you know November December we’re probably talking about a loss here because we talked about that all the time like if the Pacers don’t hit this many threes like

They’re not usually going to win these games but with the way they’ve kind of changed their uh the way they’re built right with with SE yakum now being more of a force and and Turner doing a little bit better job of being more efficient in the paint and Obi top and getting out

And running like no guy on this Pacers team made made to two threes every everybody that shot a three only they only made one so that’s what’s really interesting about how this team played overall so I I just feel like the 82 points in the paint was just massive and

I love the way that they were able to kind of dig in defensively and get some stops and and really pour it into the paint to make it more difficult for the Brooklyn Nets to to stop them and really get any momentum going yeah I mean after

Giving up 30 to Brooklyn in the first quarter Indiana proceeds to give up 27 to the second and then 21 and two points you know in the second half so holding them to you know 43 second half points is uh that’s more than the Pacers have given up in individual quarters this

Year so I I think that that says a lot but I think for the starters that they really you know set the tone in this game I think every every starter had a minimum plus minus of plus 16 or more I think that that was great to see SE

Yakum getting to the line was nice he had six free throw attempts a perfect six of six that is so uh I I think that that was great and then also you got a Pacers team that had six players in double figures obviously that that’s been their strength Jam Smith had nine

So they nearly had seven in double figures and uh I think that that’s that’s a great sign to see that the Pacers were able to win a game convincingly when Tyrese did not have it going of you know six of 18 shooting it’s great that in many games that might

Plague the the Pacers but against Brooklyn Collective effort to get the job done I want to transition now a little bit FY into some of the play from some of the other guys and Ben Shepard is a guy that I want to talk about in this game because he was one of those

Players that did score in double figures this is now the fifth time I believe he scored in double figures for the team and the team is undefeated when he scores in double digits and one of the things I love about Ben Shepard is the way that he defends on both ends and I’m

Sure you saw the quote that I got fromi when asking about Ben Shepard and he said he’s always been a great defender and he’s got you know his hands are always out got quick feet and he thinks he’s going to be a great player and there’s been some back and forth on

Twitter about that quote that quote I know Chuck and Jamie were talking about it on Twitter as well saying I don’t really see it with him yet offensively but I will just say this he’s an inconsistent offensive player but he’s a very consistent defensive player and

That’s one thing he can grow off of a player that I kind of gave like a comp to maybe who he could become is Danny Green I don’t know if you see that or not but that to me is someone that I kind of see him becoming I mean look

That’d be cool Danny is a winner that man’s got rings so I think that that would be awesome to see but I think that that’s also not an unrealistic comp you know I feel like anyone who’s under siiz in the league but can play some defense and is good passer oh that’s Draymond

Green but I feel like you know with a guy like a Ben Shepard it’s like okay hey Danny Green was a guy who carved out a really good career in the NBA so I I would love for him to be a Danny Green like player when you mentioned you know

Being um inconsistent offensively yeah because he’s a rookie you know give him time but I think he plays the game right you know Ben Shepard’s not the type of guy who’s coming out there and be like why did you shoot that like he’s he’s a smart player I think we’re going to see

That ball go in more and more as time goes on but for right now I mean you can make an argument that he’s playing some of his best basketball when the Pacers need him to like he’s he’s really starting to come along in his process as a rookie right when Indiana is really

Starting to count on him ever since Ben Maan went down so I think that that’s to see we’ve seen an uptick in minutes I mean this month in March he’s averaging 19 minutes per game so it shows that he’s an essential part of this Pacers team he missed a couple games you know

Earlier but it’s uh it’s great to see and right now the Pacers need these type of performances when you say five and0 when he scores in double figures get this man the rock yeah I mean he’s and the thing is he’s not forcing shots which is what you

Like about it he’s scoring the right way taking the open shots when they’re there and one thing I think it was tyres Halbert that brought up it’s like they were telling him to look at The Rim when he catches the ball because there was times where he was just like catching on

The outside and not looking to shoot and not kind of making himself a threat from out there so he’s done a much better job of that I I think I’ve noticed a few different times throughout the last couple of games where he may have not

Done that all the way and kind of just ready to kind of kick the ball back out but you know be ready to go be ready to score because this team trusting you obviously R Carla’s giving you the green light to play a little bit more extended

Minutes here with the second unit as they’re trying to navigate through all the injuries that they have right now Now with uh been been maing out for the year and obviously Doug mcdermitt’s still out with his injury he’ll be out for the Cavs games uh so you know still

Not sure when he’s going to return could be against Detroit but we’ll see but yeah Shep has just been really really good and he had some nice steals in this game that led to Fast Break opportunities I know we got an and one on on one as well um but Rick Carlile

Just said you know we need uh all all the team to defend at the same level as nce Smith NIMH hard and Shephard and we talk about it we always talk about how good Nim hard and N smithar defensively for Carlile to pair Shepard with that group that just shows you how much

Confidence they have in him as a player and I think he’s going to have an impact on this team for the rest of the season and probably in the playoffs yeah I think so I think the Pacers kind of need him to have an impact in the playoffs

Because right now when you start to look at this bench you know you’re starting to be like you know what hey we knew what to expect out of a Ben mathine but I feel for a guy like Ben Shepard you kind of need him to hey if those shots

Aren’t fall bring it on defense if you’re getting the shots to fall then then that’s a major contribution for Indiana so I think that that says a lot about a rookie that we really did not know how much he would contribute uh early on when the Pacers drafted him but

That pick is just looking great and we looked at it initially as has more of a hey this looks like a buddy heeld replacement from a three-point shooting standpoint now all of a sudden that contract is phenomenal for the Pacers the three-point shot hasn’t been you know there’s been flashes at time right

It has looked good but you know he hasn’t been like this Marksman from three but I feel very confident in his um in his career moving forward that the three-point shot will be there far more consistently but the defense is already already there and I think that that’s

Something that we didn’t think would be there from his rookie year yeah and and I’m not ready to say that I’ve seen the Buddy heill comparisons com fruition yet you know that that has been a talking point I I forget who even mentioned at the beginning but maybe it was jab bu

Kenan that talked about how uh they see a little bit of you know buddy hee and Ben Shepard’s game I think that he’s really good with you know about moving without the basketball and and setting the right screens and I think Caitlin Cooper had some really good points on

That on her Twitter account and she might have even wrote an art written an article about that on Sunday so if you guys want to check that out make sure you go to her patreon basketball she wrote and check that out um we always love having Caitlyn on the pot and and

Talking with her she’ll be on next week but yeah I just I just feel like Ben Shepard does so many little things that people probably don’t even realize that he does aside from the the occasional scoring from outside getting in a fast break or getting his hands on you know

Loose balls defensively so I I really have enjoyed the way he’s played this game but you know another guy that I thought was really good in this game was Aaron n Smith and he only played 26 minutes fi it looked like he went down with a shoulder injury in the third

Quarter did not return to the game he did come into the postgame press conference and talk and uh didn’t really get any clarification on you know what exactly uh that diagnosis was but I don’t see him on the injury report for for Monday unless I missed it so that’s

Good to hear but it seems like he went out of the game with that injury but still 16 points in the game five of eight shooting wise had 14 in the first half I mean he really was what him and SE yakum together were the two guys that

Kind of kept the Pacers in offensively with so many guys struggling um especially Tyrese in that first half I felt he was aggressive I mean he was five of five from the free throw line so him and seak combined for 11 of the Pacers 16 free throw attempts so I

Really do hope that everything is all right with nice Smith because I have a little bit of that PTSD with math in the shoulder injury when they said hey he’s going to be re-evaluated but he’s going to be out for about the next four games

And next thing you know you he was out for the rest of the season so this Pacers team absolutely needs Aaron Smith and there’s there’s no if ends or butts about it so I I I really do hope that everything’s all right but I also think that this was

The type of game that he didn’t need to to return or play much you know in the you down the stretch because the Pacers had things in control um so really hope that everything’s all right uh obviously we could really use him against Cleveland no doubt about that Detroit

You know if the next game was Detroit even Detroit is playing good basketball right now they’re definitely playing some of their best basketball so there’s really no nights off that anyone you know can really take but you really do hope that everything’s all right for these yeah for sure and they’re going to

Need him I’m looking at Dustin do per Twitter now it’s just Doug mcdermit still out for for Monday Donovan Mitchell also officially rolled out for the game so no Donovan Mitchell in that game either but and Evan Mo’s been out yeah so that that’s a big break once

Again for the Pacers against the Cavaliers who have just struggled to keep that team healthy but you can never count them out because even with those guys out before they’ve taken down some big teams like Boston you know Dean Wade outscored the Celtics in that fourth

Quarter a couple weeks ago so you just never can count anybody out in the NBA but yeah this is a really quality one from the Pacers and I think defensively that’s where you got to be the most excited about because this team dug in defensively and they were much more

Physical I mean once again I think this is two out of the last three games you’ve really seen Tyrese halberton be more physical as a Defender and I think that he feels more of a of a burden more pressure to kind of become a better Defender especially with how bad he’s

Been offensively you know just four assists for Tyrese I know we’ve kind of been jumping all over with him but he had one assist at the half and just I think he was 0 of seven from three maybe 0 of six from three at the half so it

Was it was really rough for but I I feel like he’s slowly just starting to kind of get his feel back for the game and and there’s going to be a moment where we see it happen but overall just a really solid game from everybody involved you already mentioned Jaylen

Smith had nine points he also had five rebounds uh a very solid game from him and I felt like he had a tough match up Dron sharp is what I labeled as an athletic tank FY that man is massive compared to Jaylen Smith when you see

Them in size so I thought Jaylen Smith had a pretty good game though no he did and and I think it’s just um you know Jaylen is just some one of those I feel he’s still just underrated or that guy that you there’s always so many other

People that you could talk about before Jaylen Smith but he brings it I mean typically not playing much more than 20 minutes a night and I feel like he’s always bringing it so I think that that that was great to see on the flip side

Of things I was a little bit um you know Mel Bridges a very quiet game and this is a guy that there was rumored at hey you know what they might turn down five first round picks we’ve heard them turn down four and so you start to look at

This and it’s like Bridges was one of eight in this game and this is someone that uh you know almost felt like the Nets were labeling as Untouchables and as not Untouchable and then you see the Pacers go out there and get a guy like Pascal seak from before what seems to be

Far cheaper and I feel like SE yakum had his fingerprints all over this game and I feel like for Bridges you know it was a very quiet performance one thing that I’m very happy about about this this Nets team is the Pacers get to play him

Two more times to end the regular season so I think that that’s going to be a good boost for Indiana so um I I think that that always helps yeah Mel Bridges it’s it’s an interesting dynamic because me and you have talked about him a lot

As he could be that missing guy for the Pacers and I think with the roster they currently have like yeah I I think he could be that that small forward that they’re missing but I still think that I would probably rank SE yakum and halber over him in the pecking order and that

Just kind of shows where he’s at I I think that he was you know a a really good fit with what that Suns team was trying to do as kind of like that third fourth option with Chris Paul Devin Booker DeAndre when they made it to the

NBA finals he’s a very quality player but I think that he’s not a number one guy he no he’s definitely not I cast a little bit you’re talking about a really good really good number three yeah potential number two but I still think he’s better suited as a number three

Exactly if if he’s a good number two you know are you a play team maybe you’re just happy to be in the playoffs but I don’t think you’re a playoff team that’s making noise and I felt like when you’re asking for four to five first round

Picks it’s just too steep he’s a very good player but I I just feel that that type of offer has to be for an Allstar all NBA type of player and uh while Mel brid is a really good player he’s neither of those no and that’s what’s

Really interesting about him and I know he has a played a lot I don’t think he’s missed a game all season long a lot he played I think it was 83 games he he Prides himself on not missing games yeah a lot of minutes too and I think he’s

Just he’s not been very good since the All-Star break I I know Doug Nory I’ve locked on uh Nets who joined the podcast last last episode he was tweeting about that a lot and just saying how much different he’s looked and he was pretty adamant like if that Nets deal was true

With the Rockets where they could have got their picks back for Mel Bridges he said they should have done it in a hard heartbeat and that there was a mistake not to do it and I kind of agree with them I feel like if you could trade Mel

Bridges for pretty much the same package or close to the same package you got James Harden for you know that would be very smart in my opinion yeah I mean the Nets are a team that it’s not that they stink it’s that they’re in the middle and that sometimes that’s one of the

Worst places to be it’s like they’re not a playing team but they’re not the worst team they’re just kind of floating around there and I just feel that there’s a lot of question marks when you look at this team they they they got rookies that they really didn’t get much

Playing time they did not develop this year you got Ben Simmons who has just been taking up uh a large part of that payroll and I and I just feel like right now you heard that I think they were what they they turned down at least I

Think they claimed to turn down two first round picks for Dorian finy Smith it’s like I don’t know who’s calling the shots over there or what they’re doing but I just feel like it sounds like they had a lot of good offers and they’ve turned them

All down and now they’re just kind of stuck in that uh that awkward part of of the standings yeah now they’re they’re they’re a weird team that has no direction right now with no control of their picks and and not really good enough to really make themselves any you

Know viable threat in the play in so they are just kind of stuck in no man’s L and they’re going to have to make some serious decisions here in the off season um but I did like the way Kevin all coached I tweeted about it I felt like

He was just super super encouraging out there like I know Dron sharp like acally like grabbed a rebound but his foot was on the line and he was out of bounds and he was like so mad at himself and Kevin all’s like no it’s you know you were

Hustling to get the ball like that’s a good play like he was always just trying to like uplift his team and I feel like he can tell a Coach really is trying to to better his team get them to play a little bit smarter and have more

Confidence in themselves and I I just feel like this net team was just like man what are we doing like they just did not seem like they were there especially in that second half when the Pacers kind of put the clamps on them you could tell

They were ready to quit and pack it in and I know that it’s probably hard for guys that have their minds you know real like they’ve got their minds made up like we’re not going to be a playoff team so what are we giving 110% for but

Some of these guys need bigger contracts moving forward and I thought you know Dennis shuder was so so good in this game I I thought he was really just having some really nice plays out there yeah I mean this n team folded like a lawn chair I mean truly they they just

That second half they didn’t have much life but yeah I there’s guys like Nick claxon who who’s looking for a new deal uh cam Thomas is one of those players that it’s like he can score with the best of them I have no idea what type of

Offer he’s gonna fetch when his time comes uh because he’s been kind of in and out of that lineup for the Nets at times but I think when they don’t have much to play for we’re going to see him putting up some big stats and I remember

A couple years ago that’s someone that we talked about in the draft and it was just we knew he could score LED all freshman in scoring but H his scoring has not translated to wins so that’ll be interesting to see but uh yeah like I

Said happy the Pacers get to play them a few more times wins are not a guarantee against teams like Brooklyn and where they are on the standings so great to see Indiana get one done but I don’t think it was much as of a surprise because there was that let down uh

Against Chicago so I felt the Pacers needed to respond and uh you know they they had they had a night off while we’re recording this on a Sunday they were off but you got to be able to get back to it again against Cleveland and that would be no matter who’s out there

That would still be a very good win for a Pacers team that has beaten Cleveland already twice this year I believe yeah for sure so Donovan Mitchell is out Max Tru is out and Dean Wade is a game time decision based off of the ESPN injury

Report I think this Cavs team has been playing pretty good basketball they’re 42 and 25 they’ve had some big wins they’ve had some disappointing losses but the Pacers are predicted to win this game 60.4% chance according to ESPN so we’ll see if that comes to fruition but

Fi I want to put your knowledge to the test here a little bit the Indiana Pacers and the Cleveland Cavaliers have 37 players who have played for each of their FR of these franchises can you name that’s a lot can you name like 10

Of them is there 10 10 of them I mean just on the spot I mean yeah like guys that played for both Indiana and the Cavs that you can think of off the top of your head all right uh first uh James Jones um I believe y he was on there

James Jones okay I’m gonna go uh Dante Jones yep uh Tristan Thompson uhhuh um let’s see I’m trying to go with like I’m like obviously thinking of those I thought of those LeBron teams for a while George Hill George think about some current players on their

Roster oh oh well Caris LeVert was a former uh yeah um let’s see another player on their roster that played for the Pacers in his rookie season how recently is this uh recently I think he was drafted like 16 or 17 second round pick same College as Tyrese

Halberton oh George Nang um all right let’s see okay so that’s already like five you’re at six right now one we just talked about uh from the Nets game the Nets he’s not a player though oh he’s not a player about Kevin ol yes sir Okay Kevin hly all right let’s see come

On come on give me a couple more couple more Cavs trying to think of like some Throwbacks one’s a general manager of a team right now on the west coast the Pacers play them this upcoming week general manager okay let’s see let’s see he played with the Pacers during the Jim O’Brien

Era oh oh oh oh um he’s he’s on the he’s with the Warriors Mike D Ley yes yes yep yep all right man this is crazy all right what do we got seven or eight you got eight you got two left okay all right you want any more

Hints yeah I do so one of these guys played Survivor oh Scott par yep yeah okay that was a good hint um all right at this point I can’t one was a guest on this show you did a you did an interview with him I don’t think I was there for the

Interview I was on vacation it was in the summer it was the year we interview Tyrese halberton Sharpshooter oh oh CJ Miles yeah yeah MOS Fresco um M Fresco yeah yep no he was a good man he was a good man uh CJ Miles um I don’t

Think he should have ever really been asked to be the number two option on the Pacers at any really point but um yeah okay there we go I was happy I was able to get to 10 yeah you got there with a little bit of help obviously it’s easier

For me because I’m reading this but uh no AJ price you didn’t mention him I disappoint your boy one that I was a little bit surprised you didn’t pick Andrew bham yeah yeah who could ever forget the two games that he played as a Pacer and how our season went downhill after that

Um all right did you did you realize that Anthony Johnson played for the Cavaliers I did not remember I really didn’t because when I think of Anthony Johnson obviously you think of him as a Pacer I remember him as a Dallas Maverick I think might have played for

The Nets or maybe I just remember him playing good he play for the Nets yeah okay there we go yeah so I can I can name three Anthony Johnson teams off top of my head I think that’s decent but I don’t remember the Cavs yeah there are

There’s some other names in here but nothing that really like sticks out Mike Sanders he’s an old school Pacer but he played with the Cavs from 88 to 93 um third string point guard Donald Sloan ring a bell okay yeah I remember Donald Sloan Mark West remember him 1985 to 1997 with the

Pacers okay uh yeah Bruno Sund remember him maybe all right he was in the early 2000s with the Pacers but yeah all right so that’s that’s kind of it uh Lou mson Justin Anderson some names oh yeah Justin Anderson yeah yeah yeah so there we go so that that’s a lot of fun

Obviously I’ve been doing some drafts with the with these players you know but I thought I’d do a little trivia here see how fi would do but uh other than that nothing else really to say on this game just I thought it was a great win

Pacers needed to beat a bad team and first time they’ve seen the Nets this season uh fun fact they never played the Nets in the year 2023 that’s really interesting and it’s also a shame because I live in the New York area and it’s just one I mean you

Could say maybe it’s not a shame it’s one less L based on my track record but at the same point you know uh I I I really do enjoy uh being able to go to games and not having to travel too far for it Brooklyn always a seat available

On that stadium is not quite like Madison Square Garden where it could sell out on any given night so um yeah that’s always fun for me yes so big win for the Pacers they wi by 21 121 to 100 and really it really wasn’t even that

Close the Nets got some points there at garbage time trying to make that deficit look a little bit better but 43 points only for the Nets in the second half was a huge defensive moment for the Pacers so really just a solid game from everybody and a big team win but fi go

Ahead and let everybody know where they can find us at on social media absolutely so you can find us on Twitter at Pacers pood STP you can find Alex on Twitter at Alex golden NBA can be found on Twitter _ FCI you can find us on

Instagram at patod STP you can find us on Facebook at setting the pace you can find us on Tik Tok setting the pace and Al tell them where they can check us out on YouTube ladies and gentlemen check out the new rebranded YouTube page at youtube.com/ setting theace of Pacers

Podcast went ahead and changed every single thumbnail on there deleted some old episodes that really aren’t relevant anymore but try to keep the the big ones there so you guys can go back and look at those but if you’re not already subscribe to that and please like all of

Our videos so more people can find it so if you’re listening to this on the YouTube page like that video subscribe to our Channel and we will continue to put the content out there for you but FY if you’re glad the Pacers got a big one

Over the Brooklyn Nets then hit me with those three words let’s go Pacers

Alex Golden is joined by Facci to recap the Pacers impressive victory over the Brooklyn Nets, thanks to the great play of Pascal Siakam, the Pacers defense and overmatching the Nets in the paint. The guys discuss how Indiana separated themselves from Brooklyn for the win in the second half and what players contributed. Then to close it out, they look at the injury report for the game against Cleveland and Alex puts Facci on the hot seat to try and name 10 players who played for both the Cavs and the Pacers.

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