Indiana pacers completes clean sweep

Indiana Pacers registered a comfortable 130-106 victory over Sacramento Kings in the second and final contest of the NBA India Games 2019 at the NSCI Dome here on Saturday.

In front of a capacity crowd, Indiana completed a 2-0 sweep over Sacramento. Kings’ owner Vivek Randive, who hails from the city, and his team had its moments, has had to return home empty-handed.

Alize Johnson (17 points), Aaron Holiday (16 points) and JaKarr Sampson (15 points) guided their side to a positive result.

Similar to the curtain raiser, Sacramento held the advantage after the first stoppage, but this time only a slender one at 9-8.

Indiana turned things around in super quick time only to go behind once again in the final run of the opening quarter. Kings ended the period with a flourish, picking up 14 points. Pacers responded with only six points as it went into the second quarter with a five-point deficit at 25-30.

Indiana came out with intent after the breather ruthlessly collecting 21 points in the opening run. Sampson and Edmond Sumner played their part off the bench, racking up 12 and 10 points respectively, all in the second quarter.

Courtesy a 46-point effort in the second 10-minute period, Pacers had a 12-point cushion (71-59) at half-time. This was almost a role reversal of what panned out on Friday, when Kings was in the ascendancy at 72-59.

In a duel of swinging fortunes, Sacramento scored six successive points without response. Despite a shaky start to the third quarter, Indiana got back to its groove thereafter, restoring its substantial lead.

It scored a total of 25 points in that period, five more than what Kings managed. Going into the last 10 minutes, Pacers led 96-79, sitting in a pretty position to succeed.

For a third time in a row, Indiana outscored Sacramento in a quarter to see off a convincing win.

A host of guests laid the foundation for the legacy project at the BMC Marathi School here on Saturday. NBA legend Dikembe Mutombo, who was part of the All-Star team eight times, was among those present.

As part of the commitment, NBA, Indiana, Sacramento and the American India Foundation (AIF) will support five under-resourced municipal schools in the city. “We are making the world a better place. We are teaching our kids the game of basketball. It’s important for them to learn the sport in a healthy and safe environment,” said Mutombo.