Pacers Mavericks preview Cooper Flagg Nesmith revenge game, Digi Mart USA News: The last time these two teams met, the Dallas Mavericks dominated the Indiana Pacers from start to finish. In Indiana’s home opener, and Tyrese Haliburton’s official return to playing in front of Pacers fans since the NBA Finals, the Mavericks came out strong and led by as many as 37 points in the first half.
The game grew heated as the first half closed. Indiana committed another turnover, and Aaron Nesmith raced back on defense and fouled Cooper Flagg hard to prevent an easy two points.
The foul was upgraded to a Flagrant 1, and Flagg did not return to the game. He was not seriously hurt and later returned after missing one additional game, but the incident led to a confrontation between Nesmith and Naji Marshall.
Monday night’s matchup could produce another physical game, since there was clearly no love lost between the two sides. Here are three things to know about the upcoming contest.
Dallas played the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday, which leaves the Mavericks on shorter rest than the Pacers. Indiana traveled from Mexico City to Dallas after its Saturday game, and it could use the rest difference to its advantage.
The Pacers did not submit an injury report for Dallas, though they listed three players on their report against Denver: Tyrese Haliburton, Ben Sheppard and Johnny Furphy.
Dallas rested Derrick Lively II, Sergio de Larrea and Tarik Biberovic against Brooklyn. Kyrie Irving sat out the second game of Dallas’s only back-to-back this season, a rest decision that coincided with a loss to the Kings at home last Monday, the Kings’ only win of the season.
Resting Irving against Indiana would be a significant loss for Dallas, especially with de Larrea out.
Since Indiana acquired Haliburton, the Pacers have won three of their last four matchups in Dallas, and they have won every game in Texas in which he has played. Haliburton remains out, though last season’s loss without him came down to the wire, when Nesmith missed the game-winning three and the Pacers suffered their fourth straight defeat.
Both rosters look very different from the last few meetings in Dallas, but this arena has been a place where the Pacers offense has come alive. Indiana could use a night of strong shooting and has added motivation to get one back after its lackluster home opener.
In their last three wins in Dallas, the Pacers scored 124, 134 and 137 points. Toppin and McConnell have performed well off the bench in Dallas, while Siakam and Nembhard have shot well but allowed others to lead in scoring.
Siakam is struggling from three-point range, and Nembhard is coming off his worst shooting performance of the season, so a productive shooting night could go a long way.
Nesmith will likely face hostility from Mavericks fans after his hard foul on Flagg in the home opener, which caused Flagg to miss Dallas’s home opener against San Antonio. Last season, Nesmith shot a poor 2-for-16 from the field and 1-for-9 from three-point range in this arena.
He was the Pacers’ second-best player on the roster, and the team needed more from him, though creating his own offense is something he has struggled with. Early this season has looked much like the start of last year: he is shooting poorly from outside and from the field in general while having limited impact in other areas.
The Pacers need him to break out of this slump as they continue returning to full strength.
The game can be watched on the Pacers Streaming service on DAZN or on NBA League Pass. The radio broadcast airs on 93.5 and 107.5 The Fan and is also available on NBA League Pass.
