On January 6, Beijing time, the Pacers played at home against the Nets. The Pacers are currently 14-24, just 13th in the East; the Nets are 23-12 and rank second in the East. Today Irving made his season debut, and the Nets Big Three fit together for the first time this season. The Big Three played a total of 14 games last season, and the Nets record is 11 wins and 3 losses.
The Pacers had previously put a number of key players on the shelves, resulting in the team's distended hearts and poor records. Three days ago, the Pacers signed a 10-day contract with Lance Stephenson, and the brother is back! This season, the brother and the Eagles have also signed a 10-day short contract, and he has played 6 games, averaging only 1.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.
The Nets are currently losing in a three-game game and the Pacers are losing five straight. Who can stop the losing streak today? After the game began, the Pacers played quite aggressively, Turner gave Irving 2 big hats in a row, and Irving didn't score 0-of-3 in the first quarter! The protagonist of the first quarter was Stephenson, who played 6 minutes off the bench, shooting 8 of 9, 4 of 5 from three points, and scoring 20 points in a single quarter!
Stephenson hit a three-point whistle in the first quarter, the bench played the earth pipa, and the commentator shouted for the Liaoning team to call the police! In the first quarter, the Pacers led the Nets 37-32, and the master stole the limelight from Irving! According to statistics, Stephenson is the first player in NBA history to score 20 points off the bench in a single quarter! The first person to replace, the master and disciple make history!
The sudden eruption of the master and disciple not only ignited the Pacers' home stadium, but also disrupted the Nets' defensive deployment. The Pacers blossomed in the second quarter, with the Nets relying primarily on Durant and Irving. KD scored 8-of-12 in the first half and scored 20 points, Ard 13+3. Irving scored eight points on 3-of-4 shooting in the second quarter. The Nets made 2-of-9 three-pointers and the Pacers made 10-of-20.
The Nets couldn't shoot from the outside, the defense pulled its crotch, and the point difference behind quickly reached double digits. At halftime, the Pacers led by 13 points 73-60, the master scored 24 points in the first half, Sabonis Jr. scored 18 points, 6 boards and 6 assists, and Turner had 5 points, 4 rebounds and 4 blocks. Seeing Turner's performance on the defensive end, the Warriors are not in a hurry to shoot?
The Pacers have averaged 106.7 points per game this season, and they blasted down 73 points in both quarters under the Nets' defense. Easy to fight again, the Nets are a little impatient, Durant and Bemburi each took a technical foul! In the second half of the third quarter, the Nets stabilized their positions and improved defensive pressure. The Nets chased back six points 34-28 in the quarter, and fell behind seven points 94-101 in the third quarter.
Fortunately, there is also Durant, led by KD, the Nets played half of the fourth quarter to complete the rebound. The Nets finally found their defense in the final quarter, decisively pinching Sabonis Jr. and not giving the opponent room to play the ball. The Pacers' outside feel plummeted, shooting 3-of-19 from three-point range in the second half. By the last 2 minutes of the game, the Nets were already 10 points ahead.
Brogdon, Le Vere and Duarte couldn't play, the Pacers only had a steady scoring point for Sabonis Jr., and Carlisle couldn't. In the end, the Nets defeated the Pacers 129-121, and the Nets ended a three-game losing streak! Irving played 32 minutes on his comeback debut and had 22 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 1 block on 9-of-17 shooting, scoring 10 points in the final quarter.
Durant played 40 minutes and shot 39 points, 8 boards and 7 assists on 14-of-23 shooting; Harden scored 18 points, 5 boards and 6 assists on 12-of-12 shooting. The Nets' Big Three scored 39, 22 and 18 points respectively, and for the first time of the season, they combined for 79 points, which is too fierce offensive firepower! Bembry had 12 points, five rebounds and two steals on 5-of-5 shooting, and his defense helped the Nets tremendously.
Bemburi didn't play in the first half, played 20 minutes in the second half, and the plus-minus was the highest +24 in the whole game! It is worth mentioning that his contract this season is only guaranteed for $750,000! Bemburi's role and enthusiasm on the field cannot be reflected in the data, and I don't know why he didn't play in the first half.
On the Pacers' side, Stephenson shot 12-of-19, 4-of-8 from three-point range, and scored 30 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists. Sabonis Jr. scored 10-of-14 and had 32 points, 12 boards and 10 assists. The master and disciple cut down 30+ again after six years, and the last time was back to March 11, 2016!
Owen's comeback makes people happy. Master and disciple are 30+ again after six years, which is equally admirable! It seems that only walkers have the instructions of the master and disciple...