INDIANAPOLIS — From the outside, it seemed as if the Nets were punting their game Saturday night.
As it turns out, they were stealing it.
On a night when the Nets played without eight rotation players, a threadbare crew gutted out a 136-133 win to stun the Pacers and their 14,280 fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
“We talked about before the game that we came here to get a win. And that was a goal,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said. “A lot of guys stepped up. We needed everybody, every minute worth, an unbelievable effort.
“I really felt that we thought we’re going to win the entire night, which is a good feeling.”
Vaughn’s faith come through as the Nets (16-12) rallied from 14 down, and from nine behind in the fourth quarter. Trailing 120-18 with 4:15 left, they put together a 10-2 run to shock the Pacers.
Just don’t tell the Nets it was an upset.
“We don’t really worry about who was out,” Cam Thomas, who had a career-high 33 points, said with a shrug. “When they said who was out, we were like ‘OK, we’re going to play ball. We’re pros too, we can play with them.’ We just wanted to come out and play hard. We got the win.”
It’s easy to see why many would doubt the Nets had a chance. Kevin Durant, Ben Simmons, Joe Harris, Seth Curry and T.J. Warren were out for rest, Kyrie Irving (adductor) and Nic Claxton (hamstring) were out with injuries, and Royce O’Neale was out for personal reasons.
“For them it was a trap game because we didn’t have nine players and they kind of played down to a level of competition if that’s what they want to call it,” said Markieff Morris, who had 15 points and 11 rebounds. “We just played hard.”
After sitting out the third quarter, Thomas scored 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting in the fateful fourth quarter, in which the Nets outscored Indiana 41-33.
Day’Ron Sharpe tied his career highs with 20 points and 12 boards, while Edmond Sumner added 21 points, seven rebounds, five assists and unbridled confidence.
Where did it come from?
“That’s a crazy question. We’re all NBA players: That’s our confidence. We play, we’re going to win. We’re not going to not expect to win because a couple of guys are out. We all got here for a reason,” Sumner said.
“Personally, I feel like if you’re in the NBA, you’re in the NBA for a reason. We’re all NBA players, we all play basketball. Just because we’re young, guys tend to look down on us,” said Sharpe, who had nine of the Nets’ 29 offensive rebounds to Indiana’s seven. On this night, they turned a weakness to a strength.
The Nets trailed 94-80 with 6:24 left in the third after a 3-pointer by Tyrese Haliburton, who scored a game-high 35 for Indiana. That’s when Vaughn wisely changed tactics.
The switching defense doesn’t work robbed of Claxton, Simmons and Durant, and the Nets haven’t been a drop-coverage team in years. Vaughn shrewdly went to a zone with lanky Kessler Edwards at the top.
“Shoot, we had to try something,” Thomas said.
The move paid dividends and got the Nets back in the game. They closed the third quarter on a 15-6 run, and trailed just 100-95 going into the fourth.
After a pair of Sharpe dunks, the Nets knotted it at 105-all on a baseline drive by David Duke Jr. with 9:49 remaining. And though the Pacers answered with a 7-0 run, the Nets rallied again.
Down 117-108 after a Myles Turner 3, the Nets mounted a 24-7 run. They knotted it on Thomas’ floater and went ahead for good at 123-122 on a Yuta Watanabe free throw with 2:40 left. Watanabe missed the second from the line, but got his own rebound and found Patty Mills (24 points), who hit a dagger 3-pointer with 2:34 to play.
Watanabe snaked inside for a putback of a Thomas miss to pad the cushion to six with 1:49 left. The Nets capped the run on a Thomas floater that made it 132-124, his fourth quarter a reminder of his scoring prowess.
“When he don’t [take over], I’m mad. Like, bro, you’re known for getting buckets. When [the stars] are out it’s your time to go get 30,” Sharpe said. “Every time guys are out, during the crunch Cam always steps up. I’m proud of him.”
Watanabe snaked inside for a putback of a Thomas miss to pad the cushion to six with under two minutes left. The Nets closed it out from there.
Haliburton scored 35 points to lead Indiana, which fell to 14-13.