Washington (AFP) – Pascal Siakam sank the go-ahead three-pointer in the final seconds, and the injury-hit Indiana Pacers won their first game of the NBA season, defeating Golden State 114-109 on Saturday. Cameroonian playmaker Siakam scored 27 points, Aaron Nesmith had a game-best and career-high 31 points, and Quenton Jackson added a career-high 25 points to help snap Indiana’s five-game losing skid to open the campaign.
The Pacers, down 104-93 midway into the fourth quarter after Stephen Curry scored three of his 24 points for Golden State, closed the game on a 21-5 run to defeat the Warriors (4-3). “We just played hard-nosed basketball,” Siakam said. “We’ve got to get back to being us. We’ve got to play hard. It has got to be tough on teams to play us. For those minutes, we made it tough on them.”
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Siakam, who played on Toronto’s 2019 NBA championship squad, gave Indiana a 112-109 lead on a three-pointer with 37 seconds remaining. “Just trying to play hard, be in position to help my team,” Siakam said. “Everybody fought for the rebound. I got an open shot. You’ve just got to shoot it.” Jackson hit a clinching basket with 5.2 seconds to play. “He was a big part of why we won,” Siakam said of Jackson. “I’m just trying to instill confidence in those guys, to know you’ve got an opportunity. This is the NBA. We took advantage of that tonight, just being aggressive, not thinking about making mistakes or anything like that. Just playing hard, that’s what we needed.”
The Pacers lost to Oklahoma City in seven games in last June’s NBA Finals, the same game where star guard Tyrese Haliburton suffered a ruptured right Achilles tendon that will keep him out this entire season. The Pacers have also lost forward Obi Toppin to a broken right foot, guard T.J. McConnell with a hamstring injury, guard Kam Jones to a back injury, guard Bennedict Mathurin with a toe injury, and guard Andrew Nembhard with a shoulder injury. “This is the tough part. A couple months ago we were at the top trying to win the championship and then going down 0-5 like this, it’s hard,” Siakam said. “What I’m trying to do is get everybody together, continue to fight no matter what, just think about the next game. Just keep the faith. I have faith in these guys and I know we’re going to keep fighting. We’re going to get better. It’s a long season. I know it feels hard. I ask the fans to be patient. We’re going to keep fighting.”
In other games, Zach LaVine scored 31 points and DeMar DeRozan added 29 to lead the Sacramento Kings to a 135-133 victory at Milwaukee. The Kings (2-4) also had 24 points each from Dennis Schroder and Domantas Sabonis, who also contributed 13 rebounds. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 26 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists for the Bucks (4-2).
Julius Randle scored 30 points to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves in a 122-105 triumph at Charlotte, while Kevin Durant scored 26 to pace the Houston Rockets in a 128-101 victory at Boston. Paolo Banchero scored 28 points and Franz Wagner added 25 to power Orlando’s 125-94 victory at Washington.
At Mexico City, Detroit’s Jalen Duren scored 33 points to lead the Pistons over the Dallas Mavericks 122-110. It was the 15th NBA regular-season contest in Mexico, where the league has also staged 19 pre-season games. The Mavs were without forward Anthony Davis, their leading scorer and rebounder, due to a lower left leg injury.
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