3 takeaways: Pacers' turnovers, cold shooting lead to blowout Summer League loss, but rookie a bright spot
The Pacers, who were missing guard Quenton Jackson, fell to 1-1 in Summer League and next play against the Bulls at 6 p.m., Monday. The Thunder improved to 2-0.
Guard Jazian Gortman added 17 points for the Thunder and wing Brooks Barnhizer posted 17 points and six steals. Center Malevy Leons had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Nikola Topic, the No. 12 pick in the 2024 draft who missed all of last season with injury, posted 10 assists.
Forward Robert Baker led the Pacers with 16 points. Forward Enrique Freeman had 15 points and 11 rebounds. Guard Taelon Peter had 15 points and wing Johnny Furphy had 11 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Pacers vs. Thunder stats, box score: Taelon Peter shows promise
Here are three observations.
Turnovers and points off turnovers were among the most important stats in the NBA Finals because the Thunder and Pacers were two of the best teams at avoiding turnovers on offense, causing turnovers on defense, turning turnovers into points and keeping their opponents from turning turnovers into points.
Both Summer League squads seem to be following the leads of what are effectively the varsity teams, and just as was the case in some key games in the Finals, the Thunder took control on Saturday by capitalizing off turnovers.
The Pacers committed 19 turnovers while the Thunder committed 17, but the Thunder were much better at converting those opportunities. The Thunder recorded 14 steals to the Pacers' 11 with rookie wing Brooks Barnhizer posting six of those which allowed the Thunder to get out in transition. The Thunder finished with 32 points off turnovers and eight fast-break points while the Pacers finished with just 12 points off turnovers an four fast-break points.
One of the biggest culprits in terms of giving the ball way was Pacers guard RayJ Dennis. Dennis, who is expected to take one of the Pacers' two-way contracts again this season, posted 26 points and nine assists on Thursday in the Pacers' comeback win over the Cavaliers. However in Saturday, he finished with just two points on 1-of-10 shooting and posted four assists to five turnovers.
Along with points off turnovers, the Pacers also saw a huge negative gap at the 3-point line that ultimately made up for a lot of the margin in the blowout.
The Thunder missed 11 of their first 12 field goals to start the game, but then made 19-of-25 to end the period and caught fire from outside. They finished 11-of-27 from beyond the arc with Youngblood making five of his eight attempts.
The Pacers never found any kind of rhythm from beyond the arc and their starting perimeter players were particularly brutal. As a team they made just 8-of-42 attempts. Starting guards RayJ Dennis and Kam Jones and wing Johnny Furphy finished 0 of 16 from beyond the arc. The only players who made multiple 3s were Freeman, Peter and Baker as they were a combined 7-of-11 from 3.
Speaking of Peter and Baker, those two were the closest thing the Pacers had to bright spots in defeat.
Peter, the No. 54 pick out of Liberty who is apparently battling for a two-way contract spot, has shown hustle and shooting skill in his first two games which were the reasons the Pacers had him rated higher than many others did on their draft boards. Peter made 6-of-10 field goals and 3-of-7 3-pointers and dished out three assists to one turnover.
Baker — who played at Harvard and has spent the past five years bouncing back and forth between the G League and international basketball — showed inside and outside skill, scoring 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting including 2-of-3 from 3-point range. He also had five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Thursday, July 10: Pacers 116, Cavs 115 (takeaways; box score)
Saturday, July 12: Thunder 104, Pacers 85
Monday, July 14: Pacers vs. Bulls, 6 p.m. (ESPNU, ESPN+)
Thursday, July 17: Pacers vs. Knicks, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN2, ESPN+)
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