Braden Smith Shines in First NBA Start! Pacers Fall 108-104 to Hawks With Just 6 Players

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SIX PLAYERS. ELEVEN GUYS OUT. ONE HECK OF AN EFFORT.

The Indiana Pacers fell 108-104 to the Atlanta Hawks, but this was anything but your typical loss.

Mike Facci is joined by Isaac Riley of Pacers Beyond The Buzzer to recap one of the most unusual and inspiring performances we've seen from Indiana in quite some time.

With ELEVEN players unavailable, the Pacers were forced to play just SIX guys — three on standard NBA contracts and three on two-way deals.

And somehow, they nearly pulled off the upset!

BRADEN SMITH STEALS THE SHOW!

The hometown kid from Westfield, Indiana, and Purdue University made his FIRST EVER NBA START, and the 5-foot-10 point guard made the most of his opportunity.

Facci and Isaac discuss Smith's impressive performance, the confidence he displayed and why his effort was such an exciting moment for Pacers fans who followed his career at Purdue.

What stood out most about his game? What did he show in his first opportunity to start at the NBA level? And could this performance lead to a bigger role moving forward?

SIX PLAYERS. SIX DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORERS.

Every available Pacer scored in double figures as Indiana's end-of-the-bench players and two-way contributors stepped up in a major way.

The guys break down how this unlikely group stayed competitive against Atlanta despite having virtually no rotation flexibility.

WHERE HAS THIS LEVEL OF COMPETITIVENESS BEEN?!

Perhaps the biggest takeaway wasn't an individual performance, but the collective effort.

Indiana played with tremendous energy, urgency and determination, displaying one of its highest levels of competitiveness in recent memory.

Facci and Isaac discuss what made this performance so different, why these players seemed so eager to prove themselves and what the rest of the roster can learn from their effort.

The Pacers didn't get the win, but they gave fans plenty to be excited about.

Braden Smith's first NBA start. Six players giving everything they had. And a four-point loss that felt a whole lot different than the others.

All that and more on today's Setting The Pace!

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