For their first meeting of the 2023–24 season, the Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers squared off on Thursday night. Before the game, both teams had been experiencing a brief losing run and were looking to turn things around.
Since Sacramento was the home team and came into the game much healthier than their opponents, they were ahead right away but this didn’t help as Pacers held off the Sacramento Kings 126-121. The Pacers, who made a big trade on Wednesday, would have to win by playing nearly flawless basketball with little in the way of resources.
The Pacers had a successful first few minutes. They were ahead 8–4 at the moment after making their first four shots. Although they wouldn’t be able to maintain that form indefinitely, they had the initial energy required for this excursion.
Sacramento was up and running really quickly. After three and a half minutes, they were ahead 11–10, and they were making solid shots on practically every possession. Following another successful three-point attempt, Pacers head coach Rick Carlsile called a timeout.
The halt was beneficial. With roughly six minutes remaining in the first quarter, Carlisle’s squad pulled ahead 17–16, and despite being a strange group, his bench was producing quality looks and scoring baskets.
Sacramento was 8/11 at the beginning of the game, while Indiana was 11/15. Both sides were finding it simple to score points offensively, and the Pacers quickly led 23–20.
In a back-and-forth final minutes of the first quarter, Sacramento made more three-pointers than Indiana. That turned the tide of the match slightly in favor of the home team. One quarter in, the Pacers led 34–31. With eight points at the time, T.J. McConnell was in the lead.
With a 12-2 run to end the first half, the Pacers took a 70-57 lead.
In the second half, Huerter responded with seven points in a row, reducing Indiana’s lead to 70-64.
With 2:20 left, the Pacers had a 122-106 lead, but with 32 seconds left, the Kings went on a ferocious 15-2 run to cut the deficit to three points. Fox had seven seconds left and missed a possible game-winning three. Malik Monk was fouled after an offensive rebound, but he failed to make either of the two free shots.
Next up
Pacers: This Friday night in Portland.
Atlanta is the Kings’ Monday night host.
