Buddy Hield, Obi Toppin lead Pacers to preseason win over Cavaliers

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Pacers beat the Cavaliers 109-104 on Friday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to finish the preseason with a 2-2 record.

They open the regular season at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse against the Washington Wizards.

Here are four observations.

Obi Toppin did what he was acquired to do

When Obi Toppin was acquired from the Knicks for two second-round draft picks in July, the Pacers immediately envisioned fast-break dunks from the high-flying forward being added to their fast-moving offense.

Toppin had several of those in the first three preseason games, but there was nothing as spectacular as the one he threw down in Friday night's first quarter. He leaked out on a break, Bennedict Mathurin hit him with a bounce pass and Toppin put the ball between his legs from his left hand for a fast-break dunk.

"It was a good pass by Benn," Toppin said. "I think it was like a missed shot he rebounded and just threw it ahead with his left hand. It was just like a perfect pass. I knew as soon as I caught it I was going to go between my legs."

He added more. His game started when he finished an alley-oop from guard Bruce Brown when Brown threw it up from the right elbow of the 3-point line and Toppin had a clear cut to the rim from the baseline. He later finished an easy reverse dunk off a drive and dish from Tyrese Haliburton.

He's already starting to sense how fun it might be for a high-flying rim runner like him to play for this team.

That was just one of the strengths Toppin showed off, however. He finished with 17 points on 6 of 9 shooting, also hitting one of his three 3-pointers and all four of his free throws.

He also continues to rebound well, grabbing nine boards in 26 minutes. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle considered that a point of emphasis for Toppin, as the 6-9, 220-pounder averaged a very modest 7.2 rebounds per 36 minutes in his first three seasons with the Knicks. He posted 23 rebounds in four preseason games.

"Me and Rick have been talking about that," Toppin said. "Me rebounding and me playing defense. Rebounding is going to win us a lot of games. If we outrebound teams I feel like offensively we're so fast getting out in transition it's going to be easy buckets. I feel like I don't have to leak out. I can still get behind a defense after crashing the boards."

Buddy Hield finds his shooting stroke

Buddy Hield had to do a lot of adjusting in the preseason's first three games. He's already having to adjust to the idea of coming off the bench after starting most of last season, and when Tyrese Haliburton sat out the first two games, Hield had to play point guard from the second unit. His shooting struggled and he entered Friday's action shooting 7 of 28 from the floor and 4 of 19 from 3-point range.

On Friday he seemed to finally be himself again and found rhythm when he was playing with Haliburton and T.J. McConnell. Hield led the Pacers with 20 points, knocking down 6 of 8 3-pointers including a buzzer-beating 3 at the end of the first quarter.

"I just had to get adjusted," Hield said. "I think I had a bad stint trying to figure out how to get the continuity going. When Rick was able to put me in in the second half I got a little rhythm."

At this point, it seems clear that the Pacers know who their starters are -- Haliburton, Bruce Brown, Bennedict Mathurin, Obi Toppin and Myles Turner. However, they haven't forgotten how effective Hield can be as a shooter and they seem determined to get him at least some minutes with Haliburton to set him up.

Hield will have to get used to playing with different point guards at different times. He'll spend time on the floor with Haliburton, McConnell and Andrew Nembhard which will require him to operate different ways to play off each of them, but he trusts his ability to do that.

"That comes with the professionalism of the game," Hield said. "You have to be able to adjust. But I'll figure it out. It's not a problem to adapt. Those guys are great guys. They're unselfish. I trust them to make the right read every time.

Andrew Nembhard, T.J. McConnell play together with second unit

Andrew Nembhard played in his first preseason game Friday night after missing most of camp because of surgery to remove a kidney stone. Veteran point guard T.J. McConnell has been getting the bulk of his minutes in his absence and has been effective in those minutes, so rather than move him out of the lineup, Carlisle put them in the second unit backcourt together with with wings Buddy Hield and Aaron Nesmith and big man Jalen Smith.

The unit struggled together in the first half and Nembhard took a moment to get his feel for live basketball. With all five on the floor, the group was -2 in the first quarter and then -11 in the second quarter and the first unit had to rally back to give the Pacers a 56-51 lead at halftime. In the second unit, the group was better. McConnell was +3 in the second half. Nembhard was +4, though he got more minutes toward the end of the game with what was essentially a third unit with rookies Ben Sheppard and Jarace Walker, forward Jordan Nwora and big man Isaiah Jackson. With that group, and against the end of the Cavaliers' bench, Nembhard scored nine of his 13 points in the fourth quarter.

Nembhard admittedly isn't in game shape because of all the time he missed, but he found some rhythm toward the end of the game.

"It was nice to be back out there," Nembhard said. "I love hooping. I've been waiting for this for a little bit. It was nice to get back out there. Obviously out of shape. I need to get that back and get back into the feel of things."

Carlisle said nothing is decided with any of his lineups yet so the second unit certainly isn't decided. With Nembhard out on Monday, the group included Sheppard, McConnell, Hield, Aaron Nesmith and Jalen Smith. Carlisle made it clear that none of them have rotation spots sewed up.

"Nothing is a finished product yet," Carlisle said. "That's pretty obviously. We have a lot, a lot of work to do -- and I mean a lot -- before we get to Wednesday."

However, McConnell and Nembhard are two players they'd obviously like to have on the floor and Carlisle has no issues throwing two point guards into the same lineup.

"Playmaking is a premium in the NBA," Carlisle said. "If you can get two playmakers on the floor like that that are that level of competitor, some good things can happen."

Pacers give the ball away 26 times

Carlisle's biggest concern after the final preseason games were his team's 26 turnovers, which the Cavaliers turned into 31 points.

Cleveland led the league in both defensive rating and points allowed last season, so some of that had to do with the way the Cavs' defended, but not all of it. In some cases, the Pacers simply made errant passes.

"Progress starts with throwing the ball to people wearing the same color uniform," Carlisle said. "Cleveland is a great defensive team, top five in the league and they're also among the best in forcing turnovers. ... They turned us over a lot and give them some credit too, but we've got to simplify. We've got to create space on the floor and use it."

Bennedict Mathurin committed six turnovers himself. He's made a point to try to be more of a passer and playmaker this season and he had two assists, but there were also times he tried to force action either with passes or the dribble that put him in tough positions. He finished the preseason with 10 turnovers against nine assists.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers vs. Cavs: Buddy Hield scores 20 points in preseason win