Nate McMillan stepped out to convey instructions and then wheeled around to face his bench. The anxiety within the Indiana Pacers head coach was palpable as the NBA India Games’ first pre-season encounter ended in a thrilling 132-131 win for his team over Sacramento Kings.
Forward T.J. Warren, signed from Phoenix Suns this year, delivered a game high 30 points. Domantas Sabonis, another forward and a powerful presence on the court, chipped in with 21 points, while guard Jeremy Lamb managed 20 points. McMillan expressed his delight about the comeback in the third and fourth quarters to stretch the tie into overtime and seal victory.
Bonding
A former Seattle Supersonics point guard who returned as coach, the current Kings coach talked about developing a winning culture. “Our preparation entering the season was to inculcate a winning culture. This is the perfect time to work on that bonding,” he said: “The guys did not drop their heads and came out in the third quarter, established ourselves, including the overtime when the team showed up (delivered).
He referred to the manoeuvres being tried out in the pre-season games, like this first time ever NBA game live in India. “We had a short camp approaching this first pre-season game. A lot of things we were doing was on the fly. We introduced some new sets (of plays) to our guys, they did a really good job of grasping what we were trying to do.”
The Kings offence hit a purple streak from the start, the Pacers defence recovered and regrouped after half-time. McMillan observed: “The defence wasn’t there in the first half, but I was really impressed the manner in which they stepped up defence by the third quarter.” The intensity towards close and tussle for points resembled a play-off game.”
Hard-fought
McMillan felt the tie was hard-fought. “This is a (type of) match you see in the NBA, even though it was a pre-season game. Both teams were anxious to see someone different in (team) uniform,” A three-pointer by Warren stretched the tie into overtime, a narrow miss by Buddy Hield (Kings chasing Pacers down a point 131-132) averted a second overtime.
Warren showed his value to the squad for the season ahead. “Adding TJ (Warren) to the roster gives us another player to whom we can give the ball to close out games. The play (resulting in a timely three-pointer) was planed. TJ finished it for us. The best way to start is to execute our plan,” said the coach.
