Indiana’s 35 Assists Forced Dallas to Trust Its Shot Makers

Thirty-five assists usually make a defense look like it has spent the evening chasing shadows. Indiana had that many Monday in Dallas, including 12 from Andrew Nembhard, and still left American Airlines Center with a 125-122 loss to the Mavericks.

The Pacers moved the ball well enough to require Dallas to win with individual shot-making. That is not a verdict that one style is superior. It is a description of how this game separated: Indiana built offense through connections, while Dallas repeatedly trusted Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving to finish possessions when the margin became fragile.

Nembhard’s passing remained central deep into the fourth quarter. With 52.1 seconds left, he found Aaron Nesmith for a 23-foot three-pointer that cut Dallas’ lead to 120-119. Earlier in the quarter, Nembhard set up Obi Toppin for a layup at 7:23 and Jarace Walker for a three at 5:51. Those were direct answers to Dallas scoring, not harmless assists collected during a comfortable stretch.

Pascal Siakam gave Indiana another way to create. He scored 29 points, added eight assists and committed no turnovers. His scoring was heavily front-loaded—26 points before halftime, followed by three after it—but his passing remained valuable when the Pacers needed a basket late.

At 20.6 seconds, Siakam assisted Nesmith on a 24-foot three that made it 123-122. The possession produced the shot Indiana wanted without asking Siakam to force a difficult attempt himself.

That was the shape of Indiana’s offense all night. The Pacers made 43 field goals, matching Dallas, and their 35 assists came on those 43 baskets. Nembhard finished with 12 points as well as his 12 assists.

Siakam combined scoring and distribution. Indiana’s reserves supplied 47 points, with Kelly Oubre Jr. scoring 14 and Toppin and Quenton Jackson adding 10 apiece. The ball kept finding another capable option.

Dallas had a different answer, and it was a very good one. Flagg scored a season-high 43 points, with 30 coming after halftime, and Irving scored 35 while making seven of 10 three-point attempts. The Mavericks had 26 assists, so this was not five players standing around waiting for a star to rescue them.

But the late burden belonged largely to those two. They scored 26 of Dallas’ 35 fourth-quarter points.

Irving’s three at 9:36 put Dallas ahead 98-97. Flagg then made two free throws, Irving made three at 8:30 and Dallas led 103-99. Daniel Gafford followed with a basket and free throw at 7:36, extending the margin to 106-99.

The sequence showed what Dallas needed from its stars: not necessarily a perfect possession, just a difficult shot or a trip to the line when Indiana’s organized offense had made the game uncomfortable.

The foul line supplied the smaller edge that fit the final score. Dallas made 25 of 34 free throws; Indiana made 21 of 28. Both teams made 43 field goals, while Indiana made 15 threes to Dallas’ 14.

Four additional Dallas free throws, paired with one fewer made three, account for the three-point difference in the field-goal and foul-shot totals. Flagg went 8-for-8 at the line, Irving went 6-for-7 and P.J. Washington went 3-for-6.

Indiana nearly found one more clean answer. After Nesmith’s three at 20.6 seconds, Irving made two free throws at 18.0 to put Dallas ahead 125-122. Nesmith missed a three at 6.5 seconds.

Washington then missed both free throws at four seconds, and Toppin secured the rebound for Indiana. After a timeout with 3.7 seconds left, Martin was credited with a steal at 0.9 after deflecting Nembhard’s pass, ending the threat.

For the Mavericks, this was not a night when passing failed or stars operated in isolation by necessity. Indiana’s 35-assist attack kept demanding answers. Dallas supplied them through 26 assists of its own, then asked Flagg and Irving to make the shots that turned a well-connected Pacers performance into a three-point defeat.

Sources

ESPN: final game record and play-by-play

Associated Press via ESPN: game reporting

Mavericks: regional broadcast footprint