Johnny Furphy produced arguably his best game yet this season. But it wasn’t enough as the Indiana Pacers suffered a franchise-record 13th-straight loss at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Plus Jock Landale was left in awe with Victor Wembanyama after his first matchup against the 7-foot-4 French phenom.
In Indiana, Furphy narrowly missed out on his first NBA double-double, registering nine points, a career-high 11 rebounds, two assists and one steal in 31 minutes in his fifth career start.
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The second-year Aussie wing shot 4-of-6 from the field with one three and finished as a +3 plus/minus.
However the Pacers faded in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s contest to fall 120-116 at home (all times AEDT).
The Cavaliers surged ahead with an 11-0 run in the fourth term that Indiana had no answers for.
Darius Garland scored 14 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth term on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting from the field to guide a Cleveland team playing without Donovan Mitchell to victory as it improved to 21-17.
The Pacers slid to 6-31 — the worst record in the entire NBA. It continued a grim turnaround just seven months on from Indiana playing in the NBA Finals, with a slew of injuries since Tyrese Haliburton was struck down with a torn Achilles tendon in the championship series.
Now the franchise is navigating its biggest ever losing streak after it’d dropped 12-straight games four other times — but never 13-consecutive defeats.
Despite this, Wednesday’s game was a big step forward for Furphy after an injury disrupted start to his season.
Furphy hadn’t played any more than 23 minutes in his 18 appearances so far this campaign as Indiana carefully manages the 21-year old back from a long-term ankle issue
He started the game particularly hot, with his ability to crash the boards a key feature. He had five points and eight rebounds in 17 minutes to half-time.
It included a highlight play in the first quarter where Furphy forced a steal and threw down a huge fast break dunk that ignited fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Even Haliburton got hyped for the Aussie from the Indiana bench.
The Pacers held Cleveland to just 22 points in the first quarter in a strong defensive showing and led 60-53 at the main break.
“Our second quarters are a big emphasis for us, I think we’ve been lacking a little bit. So we made sure everyone brought the energy in the second quarter and it’s going to start on the defensive end,” Furphy said at half-time.
It came after Indiana coach Rick Carlisle emphasised rebounding against a big Cavaliers team that starts two centres in Evan Mobley and Jarret Allen.
“(Rebounding was) a big emphasis also, all of them are going to crash, so we’ve got to be extra switched on,” Furpy added.
In New Orleans, LeBron James and Luka Doncic combined for 60 points as the Los Angeles Lakers went on a late scoring spree to defeat the New Orleans Pelicans 111-103.
The Lakers extended their winning streak to three games after James and Doncic both scored 30 points apiece in the Big Easy to keep up the pressure on Western Conference leaders Oklahoma City and San Antonio.
The Pelicans, who are bottom of the West with an 8-30 record, had threatened to spring an upset after opening up an 86-79 lead at the end of the third quarter.
But James nailed a pair of three-pointers in a 9-0 run to start the fourth quarter before Doncic added eight more points to see the Lakers home safely.
James, 41, finished with 30 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, two steals and a block in a commanding all-round display.
Doncic had 10 assists and two rebounds in his 30-point haul. Trey Murphy led the Pelicans scoring with a masterful 42-point performance in a losing effort. Zion Williamson (15 points) and Derik Queen (10) were the only two other Pelicans players to make double figures.
The Lakers remain in third place in the standings on 23-11, behind leaders Oklahoma City (30-7) and second placed San Antonio, who fell to 25-11 after a nail-biting 106-105 loss to an undermanned Memphis Grizzlies.
Landale put up 19 points with nine rebounds two assists and a block to continue his good form.
Meanwhile, Spurs star Wembanyama made a successful return from his New Year’s Eve knee injury with 30 points from the bench but was left frustrated as Memphis rallied in the final minute to snatch the win.
San Antonio got off to a blistering start with Julian Champagnie scoring 15 points, including four three-pointers, in a devastating first quarter display as the Spurs surged into a 31-21 lead.
But Memphis edged the second quarter 25-23 and then poured in 36 points in the third quarter to take a slender 82-81 lead into the final frame.
Memphis continued to pull away in the fourth, with Cam Spencer starting the period with six unanswered points to give the Grizzlies their biggest lead of the night at 88-81.
Yet San Antonio hit back to take a 105-101 lead, before Spencer closed out a one-point win with five unanswered points.
Landale, who was active on the glass late in the game, crucially missed two free throws with Memphis leading by just a point with 15.6 seconds left in the fourth quatrer.
Luckily for the Aussie, Santi Aldama blocked De’Aaron Fox’s attempted game-winner to secure the win for the Grizzlies, still missing the likes of Ja Morant and Zach Edey.
“We just play with heart every damn game. We have a group who does that and cares about this organisation and this city,” Landale said post-match.
“We want to come out here and get as many wins as we can. It’s a long season, boys are still fighting.
“It means a lot, when we buy in and play the right way … this is what we can produce. We’ve got a lot of bodies out, but we’ve also got some dogs at the end of the bench who come ready to go.”
Landale admitted his first battle against Wembanayma, who played just 21 minutes off the bench, posed significant challenges.
“I don’t want to swear, but my goodness, you guys see it. He can do it all and it’s a problem. It’s a full team effort on him,” the Aussie added.
“We were just trying to throw bodies at him, knowing he was going to be in for short stints. We were just trying to tire him out as quickly as possible and play as hard as we could.”
In other games on Tuesday, Anthony Edwards’ 26 points helped the Minnesota Timberwolves cruise to a 122-94 win over the Miami Heat.
ALL RESULTS
Cavaliers 120 Pacers 116
Magic 112 Wizards 120
Spurs 105 Grizzlies 106
Heat 94 Timberwolves 122
Lakers 111 Pelicans 103
Mavericks – Kings
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