The Indiana Pacers are on a two-game losing streak and have four tough away games with NBA Western Conference contenders.
Despite the Pacers not getting the job done to make the right plays on Monday night, the team held their heads high after losing to the Sacramento Kings 127-122.
Kings center Richaun Holmes imposed his will defensively setting a career high with six blocks. Holmes shot 6-11 from the field and dropped an impressive 16 points fighting for second-chance points at the rim throughout the second-half.
“The Kings held a one-point lead when Sabonis went up underneath the basket and was credited with a bucket as Richaun Holmes was called for goaltending with 1:25 remaining. After a lengthy review, the call was overturned. After Hield’s 3 made it 121-117, Indiana’s Victor Oladipo missed from beyond the arc. Fox then scored on a soaring one-handed dunk,” per ESPN.
Pacers big man Domantas Sabonis had another monster night with 28 points and 11 rebounds with Doug McDermott and Victor Oladipo combining for 44 points. Harrison Barnes took advantage of the mismatch with Aaron Holiday and figured out how to leverage his way to the rim scoring a season high 30 points.
Down the stretch is critical and when the Pacers settled for three-pointers rather than attacking, it resulted in misses giving the Kings a chance to extend the lead. The Pacers were forced to double combo-guard De’Aaron Fox who had nine assists with 21 points.
Oladipo spoke to the press after the game and spoke on the defensive issues the Pacers had when they’re close to holding off teams in tight games.
“We got to look out for one another especially defensively. We just got to talk better and we got to communicate better,” Oladipo said.
“It’s the little things right now. It’s not really something that is major that we can’t fix. It’s the little things and once we fix those we’ll be fine.”
The Pacers will face their next opponent tonight against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors at 7:30 p.m. PST on NBA TV.
Flip the pages for Victor, Doug, Domantas and Malcolm’s post-game press conferences.
