On Saturday night, the Indiana Pacers met a predictable result, losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder 132-111. By all metrics, the Thunder are hands down the best team in the league, and the Pacers got to taste it firsthand.
MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 33 points, and the Pacers enjoyed a well-rounded offensive attack. Tyrese Haliburton led the attack with 18 points, but Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner, Andrew Nembhard, Obi Toppin, Jarace Walker, and Ben Sheppard all scored double-digits.
On top of SGA's excellence, the Pacers had to reckon with a player who is more known for his defense, but he caught fire on Saturday.
This season, Lu Dort averages only 10.1 points per game. He shoots a solid 40.8 percent from deep, but he is a much better defender than an offensive threat.
On Saturday, however, he poured in 22 points, making six of his seven 3-point shots. After the game, Rick Carlisle revealed how he gave them fits.
"Dort's a guy where if he sees his first one goes down, he's capable of a night like tonight, and he did, he made his first one," outlined Carlisle. "These are things where you key in on these very small details and if you can't be on point from the beginning of the game to the end, it's extremely difficult."
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Isaiah Joe shot five-of-seven, and the Thunder as a whole made 47.2 percent of their 3-pointers. Meanwhile, the Pacers made only a third of their attempts and were unable to come close to closing the gap they fell into early in the second half.
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This story was originally published March 30, 2025 at 12:09 PM.