The Pacers rallied back from a 24-6 first quarter deficit to tie Monday’s NBA Summer League game with the Raptors by halftime and led by as many as six points, but Raptors forward Seth Lundy swatted away Pacers center Rienk Mast’s shot in the lane at the end of regulation to preserve a 94-93 win for Toronto at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
The Pacers fell to 1-2 in Summer League play. The Raptors improved to 2-1.
Mast led the Pacers with 23 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Forward Jalen Slawson had 21 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Forward Gabe McGlothan had 16 points, guards Yuki Kawamura and Taelon Peter had 10 points each and point guard Braden Smith had nine assists. Lundy led the Raptors with 22 points. Guard Tyreke Key had 16 points, rookie guard Jaden Bradley had 15 and rookie forward Allen Graves had 13 points, five rebounds, six assists and four steals.
Here are three observations.
Rienk Mast has been the Summer Pacers’ steadying force
There’s nothing dazzling about Rienk Mast’s game. The 6-9, 240-pounder from the Netherlands by way of Nebraska barely gets off the ground. He doesn’t possess a ton of speed or athleticism, and there isn’t much he does that warrants highlight reel footage. His measurables are all just OK, which is why he joined the Pacers as an undrafted free agent with his most likely post-Summer League destination being a G League team, whether that’s the Noblesville Boom or someone else’s squad.
But he is, in every way, sturdy. He’s physical enough to not get pushed around inside at this level and he’s focused enough to find a way to get his hands on the ball. He’s comfortable enough with the basketball to not turn it over, he has a real face-up game, touch and he can knock down 3s.
And seemingly every time things have seemed to get desperate for this Pacers squad, Mast has stepped up to make sure things didn’t get out of hand.
Mast came off the bench Monday for the first time in Summer League, presumably to spread some opportunity around with the Pacers now down to just two games in Vegas. Alex Reese got the start at center after getting zero minutes in the first two games, but he played just 11 minutes and 15 seconds on Monday, posting two points and one rebound while Mast got the Pacers back in a game they seemed out of.
Taelon Peter’s transition dunk gave the Pacers a 2-0 lead to start the game, but the Raptors scored the next 15 points with Mast not checking in until it was already 13-2. They were down 17-4 with 5 minutes to go when Mast started to will the Pacers back in it with a 2-point free throw. The Raptors went up 24-6 when Mast’s hook shot with 3:13 to play in the quarter gave the Pacers their first field goal in more than 6 minutes. He hit a 3-pointer late in the quarter that got the Pacers back within 11 and then a Taevion Kinsey 3 made it 26-16 with 1:07 in the quarter to make the situation more manageable, and then they outscored the Raptors 29-19 in the second quarter to tie the game at the break.
Throughout the game, Mast came through with important buckets and rebounds to make sure the Pacers had answers. He finished 8 of 14 from the floor and 3 of 7 from 3-point range to lead the team in field goals and 3s. He hit 2 of 3 free throws, grabbed 10 rebounds with six of those on the offensive end that either gave him opportunities for easy put-backs or kept possessions alive. Through three games, Mast is second on the Pacers in scoring with 16.3 points per game, first in rebounds at 10.0, tied for first in field goals with 18 and first in 3-pointers with six. It’s probably not enough to get in the Pacers’ mix for a two-way contract with five men already in that contest, but it should at least make him a priority for an Exhibit 10 contract and playing time with the Noblesville Boom.
Braden Smith is struggling when he calls his own number
With the Pacers down one with 12.5 seconds to go, they put the ball in the hands of their most recognizable player, the Purdue All-American and NCAA all-time assist leader who they just traded into the second round to get. Braden Smith called for a high ball screen from Mast to get Allen Graves to switch off of him, ended up dealing with Lundy and blew by him on the drive. However, Graves was there at the rim to force him to pass to Mast and Lundy got more than high enough to reject his shot attempt, knocking the ball far enough into the backcourt for the last second of regulation to run off and seal the game.
For the most part, Smith has done a better job of running the offense than he did on that possession, which seemed too obviously choreographed and failed to get the Raptors off balance in any way. However, any time he’s called his own number and looked to shoot it hasn’t gone particularly well.
Smith registered nine assists against just two turnovers in Monday’s game and his distribution numbers through three games have been excellent. However, he also went scoreless, missing on all seven of his field goal attempts including four 3-pointers.
Through three games, that’s been a trend.
For the Summer League, Smith is now 4 of 21 from the floor (19%), and 2 of 12 from 3-point range for 21 total points. He’s 7 of 9 from the free-throw line with those counting for 11 points, but he didn’t get to the line at all Monday.
The Raptors have a lot of size for Summer League team, so the 5-10 Smith was at a bigger disadvantage than usual, but obviously, Smith’s driving cause is to show that size doesn’t matter and won’t be an issue for him at the next level. He’s up to a team-high 18 assists against seven turnovers and he had some dazzling passes on Monday, but the Pacers have been just as successful if not more so when the 5-7 Yuki Kawamura has been on the floor. Granted, Smith is a rookie and Kawamura is heading into his third season in NBA-affiliated basketball, but the Pacers would still like to see more production there.
Jalen Slawson’s athleticism continues to pop
Jalen Slawson is, in away, everything that Rienk Mast is not. The 6-7 forward’s range of outcomes is much wider as he’s capable of both the disastrous and the divine with astounding explosion and leaping ability as well as the propensity for turnovers. However, his constant activity makes him a force on both ends of the floor and combines with Mast’s more steady production to keep the Pacers in games.
Slawson scored 21 points on 6 of 13 shooting Monday and each of the makes felt thunderous. Two of those were tip-dunks with one of them coming when he started running from the 3-point lane took off and threw down before anyone on the Raptors could mark him for a block out. He had another tomahawk dunk when he almost threw his arm in the rim. Again he grabbed eight rebounds and swatted away two more shots to give him eight blocks in Summer League. He’s averaging nearly 21 points per game in Las Vegas, which is making him hard to ignore as he makes a case for a two-way contract.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Rienk Mast, Jalen Slawson lead comeback but summer league Pacers lose at buzzer
Reporting by Dustin Dopirak, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dustin Dopirak, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
