Photo by Catherine Steenkeste/NBAE via Getty Images Indiana’s aggressive defense and Halliburton’s scoring flurry too much for the Spurs as they split the series with the Pacers The Pacers upped their aggressiveness in the second Paris game and discombobulated the Spurs offense with a full court press as they surged to a 15 point halftime lead. The Spurs fought back in the early part of the third quarter and even took the lead briefly. Unfortunately for the Silver and Black, Tyrese Halliburton went nuclear, scoring 18 in the quarter, almost all in the last few minutes as the Pacers regained control to lead by 12 after three quarters. The Spurs reverted to some of their bad habits in their January slump as the execution began to fall apart in the fourth quarter and the Pacers won 136-98. The Spurs split the series in Paris with the Pacers and are now 20-23 for the season. They return to San Antonio for a game against the Clippers next Wednesday. Even with the blowout loss today, it’s still been a successful trip for the Spurs and the League, and the Parisian fans got a special treat by being able to watch Victor Wembanyama in his home country. Observations Andrew Nembhard got off to a strong start for Indiana using his craftiness in the paint to get off shots and making offensive rebounds as the Pacers took an early 7 point lead. With the rest of the Spurs getting off to a sluggish start, Harrison Barnes started off as hot as he was in the previous game, scoring 11 of the first 18 for the Silver and Black. The Pacers played with more urgency from the opening tip, stealing the ball from the Spurs for an easy breakaway dunk. The Pacers took a 33-24 lead after one quarter, taking advantage of a Spurs squad that looked a step slow, perhaps suffering a bit of a Paris hangover. The Spurs started to shake off the rust in the second quarter as Wembanyama hit a ridiculous three-point banker from near halfcourt to cut the lead to 5. They tied it up with 7 minutes left in the quarter on a pair of Wemby free throws. Indiana struck back for the rest of the quarter by extending their offense to full court and discombobulating the Spurs on offense and using turnovers to close the quarter on a 15-3 run to lead 65-50 at the half. Mamukelashvili is back in the rotation now. I’m not sure why, but it seems to be working. Having another big that can score and facilitate the offense makes up for his defensive shortcomings. Castle gets a lot of contact without any calls in the paint. I guess that’s the life of an NBA rookie. In the second half, he stopped trying to draw fouls and took up the ball strong to the hoop, which seemed to work better. The Spurs had 12 turnovers in the first half, which isn’t something they can afford to do against a skilled team like the Pacers. For the game the Spurs had 24 of them, and that’s a recipe for disaster. The Spurs reversed the tables on the Pacers to start the third quarter as they became the aggressor and the lead into single digits early in the quarter. They finally regained the lead with just under 5 minutes left in the third on a Wembanyama midrange in traffic where he finished through contact without a foul call. Unfortunately for the Silver and Black, Tyrese Halliburton went nuclear after that, scoring 18 points in the quarter and the Pacers led 98-86 after three. The Pacers run coincided with Victor going to the bench, which is the biggest weakness of the current Spurs team. The Spurs came out with energy to start the fourth and tried to match the Pacers intensity. The execution wasn’t there for the good guys as they made too many turnovers that led to easy Pacers points, and the deficit grew. The last 3 and a half minutes of the game were garbage time as the Pacers led by more than 30. After the Spurs led 77-76 with about 17 minutes left in the game, they were outscored by the Pacers 60-21. That seems kind of ridiculous. I don’t understand the flagrant foul by Jarace Walker on Sidy in garbage time. The game was over, no reason to make a play that might hurt someone. I’m just glad Sidy Cissoko is OK. I didn’t think that Mamukelashvili’s flagrant foul was quite as dangerous, but I don’t have a lot of argument against him being ejected, since player safety is the reason for the call. The Spurs have a few days off before they face the Clippers next Wednesday in San Antonio. With Kawhi Leonard back on the court for LA, this should be a big game for the fans. I’ll be wearing my Kawhi Leonard Spurs jersey.