5 reasons LaMelo Ball and the Hornets knocked off the Pacers

INDIANAPOLIS – COVID-19's spread across the NBA continues to lead the headlines, and the losses continue to pile up for the Indiana Pacers.

Jeremy Lamb was held out Wednesday after testing positive for COVID-19, according to Pacers coach Rick Carlisle. Indiana assistant Lloyd Pierce was also absent after returning an inconclusive test, but the team still had to host Charlotte, which has its own COVID-19 issues. Miles Bridges, P.J. Washington and Scottie Lewis are all in the league’s health and safety protocols.

Star guard LaMelo Ball, who was the Rookie of the Year last season, was still available for the Hornets, and he did a little bit of everything to lead his team to a 116-108 victory at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Here’s what stood out:

LaMelo Ball does it all

Ball showed off his versatility by nearly registering a triple-double Wednesday. He ended the game with 21 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, easily proving he was the best player on the floor. One of Ball’s most impressive plays came just before halftime, when he spun past Chris Duarte in the lane and dropped in a high-arching floater over the outstretched arm of Myles Turner, the league-leading shot blocker.

"They have really good playmakers," Carlisle said. "Ball is doing some things out there that are pretty amazing."

Terry Rozier sets the tone

Ball is Charlotte’s leader, but his backcourt mate Terry Rozier was the one who set the tone. He scored 13 of his game-high 35 points in the first quarter to help the Hornets build a 12-point lead. Charlotte never looked back, leading for all but 1 minute, 17 seconds of Wednesday’s game to notch its third win against Indiana this season.

Too big of a mountain

Indiana came back from an 18-point first-half deficit and twice cut Charlotte’s lead to four points in the fourth quarter, but it was too big of a mountain to climb. Torrey Craig had a dunk that made it 94-90 with 9:50 left in the game, but the Hornets responded with a 7-4 run. A few minutes later, the Pacers closed the gap to 101-97 on a pair of free throws by Craig, but they had no answer for Rozier, who scored 13 points in the final frame and drained two dagger 3s.

Oshae Brissett and Kelan Martin had strong performances off the bench to give Indiana a chance at the end. Martin scored all nine of his points in the second half, and Brissett had 14 points. Both players made three 3s.

"We let them get too many easy shots (at the start of the game)," Brissett said. "Terry Rozier, he had a hell of a game. He was hitting some tough shots, but the other guys were wide open. ... So we knew coming into the third quarter we were gonna have to really press up on them defensively and get out and running offensively."

Short on point guards

Indiana addressed its lack of point guard depth and production by waiving Brad Wanamaker and signing Keifer Sykes earlier this week, but the team still lacked production from that position. With Malcolm Brogdon (right Achilles) and T.J. McConnell (right wrist) both out, Caris LeVert shouldered most of the point guard duties once again, registering six assists to three turnovers, while scoring a team-high 27 points.

Sykes, who went undrafted out of Wisconsin Green-Bay in 2015, made his NBA debut at the 2:44 mark of the first quarter. The 5-11 guard went scoreless in 10 minutes, shooting 0-of-4 from the field, and recorded two assists and one rebound.

"He can bring energy on the defensive end and on the offensive end he makes the right read, so that's perfect," teammate Domantas Sabonis said. "That's what we need."

Sabonis had a team-high seven assists to go along with 15 points and 18 rebounds.

Points in the paint

The rebounding was nearly a tie Wednesday, with Charlotte grabbing 48 boards to Indiana’s 45. However, the Hornets separated themselves in another area around the basket: points in the paint. Charlotte outscored Indiana 54-32 in the lane and had five players score in double figures, including 2008 IndyStar Mr. Basketball Gordon Hayward. The former Brownsburg and Butler standout had 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting.

"That's another statistical thing that we've gotta be at least even on, playing against a quality team like Charlotte," Carlisle said of the points in the paint disparity. "We just simply gotta do better."

COVID issue: Pacers guard Jeremy Lamb tests positive

Charlotte 116, Indiana 108

CHARLOTTE (116): Hayward 8-13 1-2 18, McDaniels 5-8 2-2 12, Plumlee 3-6 2-4 8, Ball 8-13 4-5 21, Rozier 13-23 4-7 35, C.Martin 0-5 1-2 1, Oubre Jr. 5-13 1-5 13, Richards 2-2 2-3 6, Smith 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 44-85 19-32 116.

INDIANA (108): Holiday 5-8 0-0 12, Turner 5-11 1-1 14, Sabonis 3-9 8-14 15, Duarte 5-7 0-0 11, LeVert 8-23 7-9 27, Craig 2-6 2-2 6, K.Martin 3-7 0-0 9, Brissett 5-11 1-3 14, Sykes 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 36-86 19-29 108.

Charlotte 34 37 19 26 — 116

Indiana 27 30 25 26 — 108

3-Point Goals—Charlotte 9-26 (Rozier 5-9, Oubre Jr. 2-8, Hayward 1-2, Ball 1-4, C.Martin 0-2), Indiana 17-45 (LeVert 4-12, Brissett 3-5, K.Martin 3-6, Turner 3-6, Holiday 2-5, Sabonis 1-5, Sykes 0-2, Craig 0-3). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Charlotte 48 (Ball, Plumlee 12), Indiana 45 (Sabonis 18). Assists_Charlotte 27 (Ball 9), Indiana 25 (Sabonis 7). Total Fouls_Charlotte 20, Indiana 20. A_17,608 (20,000)

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Pacers vs. Charlotte Hornets: LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier stand out