‘Gritty’ Indiana Pacers open season with Finals rematch v OKC Thunder

INDIANAPOLIS – When the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers meet on Oct 23 (Oct 24 morning, Singapore time) in Indianapolis, the stakes will be significantly lower than they were the last time the teams squared off.

The Pacers open their season against the team they lost to in seven games in last season’s National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals, hoping to set the tone for a season that already features several challenges.

“I think it’s past at this point,” Indiana guard Andrew Nembhard said of turning the page to this season after disappointment with the way things ended last season.

The Pacers will be without star Tyrese Haliburton for the entire season and lost long-time centre Myles Turner to free agency in the off-season.

“In a position we’re in right now, you’ve got to look forward to the challenges that are staring us right in the face,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle added. “I’ve talked to our team a lot about grit and where grit got us last year, and to remind those guys that were here last year and to let our new guys know that grit is a lot of what this is going to be about.”

Now, Indiana move forward with a core of Nembhard, Bennedict Mathurin, Pascal Siakam and Aaron Nesmith. Those four excelled together during the pre-season and are looking to carry over that success into the regular season.

“Small sample size, but I think we’re going to grow that throughout the year,” Nembhard said. “I think we’re all in the right mindset to play with each other.”

While the Oct 23 game is the opener for the Pacers, Oklahoma City are coming off a 125-124 double-overtime home win over the Houston Rockets on Oct 21.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, last season’s Most Valuable Player (MVP), struggled for much of that game before surging late to help lift the Thunder to the victory.

“He’s someone we never even check in on,” Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren said. “Like yo, everything OK? Is there something going on? He’s good. When he has to look to score and make plays, he’s gonna do it.”

After scoring just 11 points in the first three quarters, Gilgeous-Alexander scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and 12 more over the two overtime periods.

Thunder guard Jalen Williams continues to recover following off-season wrist surgery and they will also be without Alex Caruso (concussion).

Oklahoma City’s Luguentz Dort and Cason Wallace are listed as questionable with a left ankle sprain and left knee sprain respectively.

Meanwhile, on the same day, the Denver Nuggets hope to accomplish what the Golden State Warriors did two days earlier when the former NBA champions go head-to-head in another duel of superstars in San Francisco.

Getting 31 points from Jimmy Butler and a productive start from Jonathan Kuminga, the Warriors were able to overcome Luka Doncic’s 43-point explosion for a 119-109 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct 21.

Denver finished two games ahead of Golden State in the Western Conference standings last season, taking two of three in the season series.

Nikola Jokic, who sat out a March win in San Francisco, averaged 35.5 points in his two meetings with the Warriors last season.

This time around, the three-time MVP will be joined in the starting line-up by Cameron Johnson, who was acquired from the Brooklyn Nets over the summer in exchange for Michael Porter Jr.

Johnson joins Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr and Jonas Valanciunas in a deeper roster the Nuggets hope can close the 18-game gap that existed last season between themselves and the Thunder, who had the best record in the West before going on to claim the NBA crown.

Nuggets coach David Adelman believes Jokic should benefit from the beefed-up supporting cast.

“The goal is to move the ball and play the right way,” Adelman told the media of a team that already led the NBA in assists last season. “That’s what Nikola does better than anyone. He makes the right play.”

The head-to-head between Jokic and Warriors standout Stephen Curry will be their 29th in regular-season play, with the perennial All-Stars currently locked in a 14-14 tie.

Meanwhile, in the highlight of Oct 22’s NBA action, Victor Wembanyama scored 40 points in a sensational NBA return by leading the San Antonio Spurs to a 125-92 season-opening victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

The 21-year-old French star had not played since he was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder that required surgery in February.

But he launched his third season with a dazzling display on both ends of the floor, adding 15 rebounds, a steal and three blocked shots.

Separately, Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, an NBA Hall of Fame player, and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier were among more than 30 people charged on Oct 23 in connection with two separate but related federal gambling investigations that involved the league and organised crime.

The schemes – one of them focused on insider sports betting and another that rigged poker games nationwide – spanned years and involved tens of millions of dollars in illicit gains from wire fraud, money laundering, extortion and gambling, FBI director Kash Patel said at a press conference in Brooklyn.

Rozier was one of several insiders who provided non-public information about how they would perform to their partners, who in turn used proxies to place multiple bets based on the tips, authorities said. REUTERS, AFP