John Collins conditions Indiana at the last second

Having been plagued by incessant transfer rumors for weeks, even months, John Collins remains a player to this day Falconsprofessional and focused on winning.

Illustration tonight as he allowed his team to win (113-111) Pacersby tipping the ball into the basket, after an offensive rebound and immediately before the buzzer.

Before that, Trae Young (26 points, 11 assists), De’Andre Hunter (25 points), Onyeka Okongwu (18 points, 20 rebounds, 4 blocks) or even Dejounte Murray (18 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists) proved invaluable in answering a rookie-led opposing team (six players with 10 or more points). Benedict Mathurin In the absence of Tyrese Haliburton (26 points).

WHAT TO REMEMBER

— John Collins redeems himself on the wire. The hero of the evening, thanks to the inside look of the Falcons (7 points and 8 rebounds in 27 minutes), game winner came in at the last second and managed to make people forget about a previously very complicated (relative) performance. Limited to just 2-of-9 shooting, he struggled to get an offensive edge over Isaiah Jackson, Jalen Smith, Oshae Brissett or even Benedict Mathurin, against whom he suffered defensively. Fortunately, at the end of the match, everything was fixed (or almost).

— Indiana may regret his clumsiness. This poster between the Pacers and Hawks, undecided until the last second, will leave the locals with some regrets. Because Indiana’s players didn’t make life easy by shooting just 40% and especially 23% from 3-point range (7/30), watering them down as well. They may have dominated the paint (64-40 points), created havoc and made shots (24/29), or grabbed offensive rebounds (19) to make up for their lack of outside success, a few things that won no life-saver awards. cannot replace. Atlanta in particular completed 16/33 (49%) from long range…

TOPS/FLOPS

✅ Onyeka Okongwu. Without Clint Capela, the Falcons’ young center continues to thrive in Nate McMillan’s rotation on plays. He had one of the best performances of his career by scoring a big double-double tonight. Everywhere on the floor, starting with a bang (14 points, 8 rebounds after a quarter) and not looking tired (39 minutes), Nyeka is asserting his importance on this Atlanta team. In the end, Capela’s future in the workforce is likely to be seriously questioned…

✅ Benedict Mathurin. Absent Tyrese Haliburton as well as Myles Turner, the Pacers needed a player to take on the manpower leader’s mantle. You’d expect Buddy Hield to be in charge, but it ended up being the Indiana junior who led the pack. Aggressive (8/11 shooting) and successful in shooting (9/18 shooting), he began to get Rick Carlisle’s men back into the game, especially in the second and third quarters when they were on a tight drive. ten points on the scoreboard.

⛔ Nembhard/Duarte duet. Perfect symbols of the Pacers’ clumsiness in general and 3-pointers, Andrew Nembhard and Chris Duarte have to say they were the least torn up on the backcourt tonight: 13 points in total, but only 4/25 on shots, including 2/12 on 3-pointers… All Despite his good intentions, it’s not the kind of performance that will help you forget Tyrese Haliburton. To see if Rick Carlisle would try the experiment again, even if his multiple absences in the outfield positions didn’t help him.

⛔ Atlanta bench. TJ McConnell – Oshae Brissett – Jalen Smith, the author of 44 points in total, the substitutes of “Hawks” (19 points between them) did not keep the shock and brought less quality minutes. Given the poor performances of Bogdan Bogdanovic, AJ Griffin, Jalen Johnson and Aaron Holiday, Nate McMillan was therefore forced to shoot the bodies of the incumbents. Especially the Trae Young — Dejounte Murray — De’Andre Hunter — Onyeka Okongwu quartet, all of whom played between 34 and 39 minutes.

NEXT

Indiana (23-20) : back to back vs. Memphis, Saturday night (1:00 a.m.).

Atlanta (20-22) : back to back Saturday night (1:30 a.m.) in Toronto.