Myles Turner scores 24 and Pacers play tough defense in win over Oklahoma City

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- The Pacers played one of their best defensive games and got double-figure performances from all five starters to claim a 121-111 win over the first-place Thunder at the Paycom Center.

The Pacers improved to 37-29 with their second straight win and move the sixth seed in the East by a half-game over Philadelphia. The Thunder fell to 45-20 and are now tied with the Nuggets atop the Western Conference.

Here are four observations.

Pacers set tone with tough defense in first half

The Pacers' defensive performance against the Magic was arguably their best of the year as they held an Orlando team that has had their number and has been particularly difficult for Indiana to keep away from the rim to just 97 points. The Pacers followed that performance with arguably their best defensive half of the season against the Thunder.

The Pacers opened the game on an 11-2 run and made the Thunder, who rank fourth in the NBA in scoring and third in offensive rating, work for everything they got. The Pacers played with presence on the perimeter and around the rim. They held Oklahoma City to just 17 first-quarter points on 7 of 26 shooting, including 3 of 12 from 3-point range with just six points in the paint for an abysmal efficiency figure of 0.68 points per possession. The Thunder got a little more going in the second quarter with 29 points, but they had just 46 points at the break on 16 of 45 shooting (35.6%) including 7 of 20 from 3. The Pacers outscored the Thunder 36-16 in the paint in those two periods and held Oklahoma City -- which entered the game averaging 1.19 points per possession -- to just 0.89 points per possession.

"Our defense the last four games has been really, really good," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "We've taken on a tone where we have the ability to make it tough. They missed some shots they normally make probably, but our guys were working to make it hard on them."

The Pacers made life particularly difficult for MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder's silky point guard. Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard drew the assignment out of the gate and forward Aaron Nesmith and backup point guard T.J. McConnell guarded him later and each brought force to the matchup and kept him from getting easy looks. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 11 first-half points but was 4 of 12 from the field and 0 of 3 from 3-point range and also turned the ball over three times. He finished with 30 points on 12 of 27 shooting, including 1 of 7 from 3-point range.

"I think you just want to be physical," Nembhard said. "Be a pest. Make it as difficult as you can and make him take tough shots. I think we did a solid job with that."

The Thunder got loose in the third quarter and scored 41 points on 17 of 25 shooting, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range, and posted a robust 1.53 points per possession. In the fourth the Pacers got back to locking them up again, however, as the Thunder made just 10 of 29 shots and posted 0.88 points per possession.

The Thunder entered Tuesday night's game averaging 120.7 points per game (fourth in the NBA) on 49.9% shooting (second) including 39.4% from 3-point range (first) for 1.19 points per possession (third.). The Pacers held them under their averages across the board with 111 points on 43.4% shooting and 37.8% from 3-point range for 1.05 points per possession.

Myles Turner burns Thunder in the pick-and-roll game

Myles Turner can make basketball look like a very simple game, especially when All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton is drawing double teams or switches on the pick-and-roll. Tuesday was another one of those times.

The Thunder, of course, have an athletic big man with length in 7-3 Chet Holmgren who can handle the ball on offense and be trusted to switch on to guards on defense. The one downside to that for Oklahoma City is when they switch, they can create disadvantages for themselves on the roll man, and that worked out more than a few times for the 6-11 Turner. Turner scored 15 first-half points on 7 of 11 shooting. The 3-pointer came on a kickout from the lane when he was standing on the wing but most of the other buckets came on ball screen action. Three of his buckets were layups, but the other three were pull-ups, mostly on short rolls from just inside the free throw line, which worked even when Holmgren dropped instead of switching.

"They played up-at-the-level a little bit more," Haliburton said. "They laced in some blitzes. They did some different things in the pick-and-roll to make Myles have make decisions in the short roll. I thought he was amazing today. He did a great job, especially early in the game. Then that opened up everything for skips and everything else for everybody. When he rolls, it's not just about him. It opens things up for me and everybody else around him. I think he's just been amazing these last two games."

He finished with 24 points on 11 of 17 shooting, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range, and had five assists. Four of his buckets were mid-range jumpers between 10 and 15 feet.

"I think for a lot of people, they see that as a bad shot," Turner said. "But I came into the league making those shots before I started shooting 3s, it was mid-range pick-and-pop. That's just bread and butter of my game. When I say daylight, I'm going in those situations.

He also blocked four shots and has 10 blocks in the last two games. Turner, who led the NBA in blocks with 3.4 per game in 2020-21, was averaging 1.8 per game going into Tuesday's action and said he has decided he needs to be more aggressive about blocking shots.

"I think just flowing," Turner said when asked why his shot-blocking had picked up. "I think for the most part this season, I've been a little hesitant. I don't know if it's fouls or just getting out of position but in the past I feel like I just went for everything. That's what the team's encouraged me to do is get back to being myself on that side of the floor. Just covering up for guy's mistakes and being there for my teammates."

Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam post double-doubles, get big buckets

All-Stars Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam have both had bigger nights than they did Tuesday and Haliburton even had some rough turnovers, but both of posted double-doubles and came through with big shots and plays when they were desperately needed.

Haliburton scored 18 points on 8 of 15 shooting. He was just 2 of 6 from 3-point range, but one of those 3s was a dagger in the game's final two minutes. He turned the ball over four times, but finished with 12 assists, keeping the ball moving while facing tough defense from Oklahoma City defensive ace Luguentz Dort.

"He's just obviously uber-physical, a very strong dude," Haliburton said. "I tried to figure out different ways that I could impact the game. He kind of shifted the second quarter to full-court pressure and stuff like that, so just try to find the right ways to relieve that. And kind of stay involved. I think sometimes you can get caught when guys are picking you up full court to just kick it ahead and stand. I thought I did a good job of moving without the ball, forcing them to leave their positions and being able to put them in rotations."

Siakam meanwhile, continues to prove himself the best option the Pacers have when they need a bucket against tough defense. He finished with 18 points on 6 of 12 shooting and also grabbed 11 rebounds, all of them coming on the defensive end. The Pacers still lost on the glass, but Siakam prevented a number of second-chance opportunities.

"Games like tonight are the reason you make a trade for a guy like Pascal Siakam," Carlisle said. "He can create. He has length defensively. He can affect shots at the rim defensively. He rebounds."

Aaron Nesmith finds his offense

When Aaron Nesmith came back from an ankle sprain on March 1, he had to jump back into taking on some of the toughest defensive matchps in the NBA and he did pretty well with some of those. He was especially strong down the stretch in the Pacers' win over the Mavericks on March 5 when he had to hang with MVP candidate Luka Doncic.

His offense, however, was lagging as in his five games back going into Tuesday night he averaged just 8.6 points per game on 33.3% shooting, scoring in double figures just once.

On Tuesday night, however, he seemed back to himself on both ends. He wasn't great from the 3-point arc, making just 1 of 5 shots, but he was 6 of 12 from the field for 15 points. Included among them was a highlight-reel dunk on a baseline drive over Gilgeous-Alexander.

"They closed out hard," Nesmith said. "I know if I get to my right right and take off on my left leg it's over. It was just getting to my spot.

Indiana 121, Oklahoma City 111

INDIANA (121)

Nesmith 6-12 2-2 15, Siakam 6-12 6-7 18, Turner 11-17 0-0 24, Haliburton 8-15 0-0 18, Nembhard 4-7 4-4 14, Toppin 4-6 2-4 10, Walker 1-2 0-0 3, Smith 2-5 2-2 6, McConnell 4-8 0-0 9, Sheppard 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 48-89 16-19 121.

OKLAHOMA CITY (111)

Dort 6-12 3-3 18, Hayward 3-4 2-4 9, Holmgren 6-16 0-0 18, Giddey 7-15 0-0 15, Gilgeous-Alexander 12-27 5-6 30, Jay.Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Muscala 0-2 0-0 0, K.Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Joe 2-8 0-0 6, Wallace 4-7 0-0 11, Wiggins 3-7 1-2 7. Totals 43-99 11-15 114.

3-Point Goals—Indiana 9-28 (Turner 2-3, Nembhard 2-5, Haliburton 2-6, McConnell 1-1, Walker 1-2, Nesmith 1-5, Toppin 0-1, Smith 0-2, Sheppard 0-3), Oklahoma City 15-38 (Holmgren 4-7, Wallace 3-4, Dort 3-6, Joe 2-5, Giddey 1-2, Hayward 1-2, Gilgeous-Alexander 1-7, K.Williams 0-1, Muscala 0-2, Wiggins 0-2). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Indiana 43 (Siakam 11), Oklahoma City 50 (Holmgren 13). Assists_Indiana 34 (Haliburton 12), Oklahoma City 25 (Gilgeous-Alexander, Hayward 5). Total Fouls_Indiana 11, Oklahoma City 16. A_17,118 (18,203)

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Myles Turner, defense help Pacers claim win over Oklahoma City