INDIANAPOLIS – In 5 minutes and 44 seconds on the floor in the first quarter of Friday's game against the Magic, Johnny Furphy could sense he wasn't making the most of the moment.
The Pacers' baby-faced rookie wing from Australia by way of Kansas got to check in early as one of Indiana's first subs because they had rested all five of their regular starters after clinching a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and homecourt advantage in the first round. The second unit became the first unit and Furphy was one of the first players to sub in behind the usual bench. But all he had by the end of the first quarter were two assists — no field goal attempts let alone points and no rebounds.
And he heard about it in the huddle.
"I thought I started the game off pretty slow, just not as aggressive as I wanted to be," Furphy said. "We came out of a timeout and one of the coaches challenged me and said he thinks I have another level to get to. I went out and tried to be as aggressive as possible."
That aggression came out in one of the most impressive dunks of the Pacers' season. Certainly one of the most impressive in a half-court setting and one of the most impressive thrown down by someone other than Obi Toppin.
FURPH POSTER 🤯🤯
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) April 11, 2025
Johnny Furphy rises up for the MONSTER slam 🔥 pic.twitter.com/EsbdRGVXrz
Furphy caught the ball in the left corner with about 10:39 to go in the second quarter and got Magic guard Anthony Black to bite on a pump fake on a closeout. He blew by him and used center Tony Bradley's post-up near the rim as a screen. He turned around that and found Magic 6-11 center and former Pacer Goga Bitadze there but went right through him for a powerful, posterizing dunk.
And that sent the Pacers' bench into absolute euphoria, especially the starters running around in street clothes. The Magic dunked on the other end ...
