LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. AKA THE BUBBLE — As Nate McMillan celebrated his 56th birthday in the bubble. His team didn’t disappoint. With Victor Oladipo sitting this one out and Malcolm Brogdon back in the lineup. The Pacers didn’t miss a beat.
TJ Warren came through once again with the full clown suit on complete with the water spitting flower as he dropped 34 points to lead Indiana to a 111-100 win over the Washington Wizards.
After an impressive win on Saturday night over the 76ers they just reloaded on Monday afternoon against the Wizards.
Indiana struggled out of the gate from three-point range going 1-8 in the first quarter. However, they only trailed 21-20 at the end of the first quarter.
The Pacers scrapped to stay consistent in the second quarter going on an 8-0 run with 5:15 left in the half to take a 39-38 lead on a Malcolm Brogdon field goal.
All of a sudden that 8-0 run turned into a 17-2 run as the Blue and Gold went up 48-40 with just inside of 2 minutes to play in the half. At the break Indiana was up 56-47 over the Wizards.
Nate McMillan’s crew shot 50 percent from the field and improved from the three-point line to 25 percent by the time we got to the break. Both Aaron Holiday and TJ Warren led the Pacers with 11 points each up to that point.
TJ Warren suddenly picked up where he left off on Saturday during the third period as he seemed to go unconscious. He scored 16 points in the period. Indiana was up 90-68 through three quarters and feeling it.
As quickly as they exploded in the third period the offense took a smoke break to start the fourth quarter. They went three and a half minutes without a field goal to the start the final period. Brogdon got to the free throw line and knocked down two foul shots to jump start the Blue and Gold.
Tj Warren then put his cape on and went back to work.
However, the Wizards continued to battle closing the gap 100-91 with 4:34 left to play on a Jerome Robinson three-pointer.
Despite the Wizards valiant effort in the fourth quarter outscoring the Pacers 32-21. It wasn’t enough to walk out of the joint with a “W.”
