Post-Game Grades: Pacers Jump on Warriors Early, Win Comfortably in Oakland

The Good – Nobody really had an amazing game, but the Pacers still beat a very dangerous Warriors team. Everyone contributed, and it didn’t take a Superman effort from any one individual.

The Bad – Danny Granger has seen better days. He’s still figuring things out, but it doesn’t change the fact that he simply didn’t play well.

MVP – George Hill. Keeping Steph Curry in check is an extremely difficult job that many around the league can’t do. He has a lot of help behind him, but give Hill credit.

LVP – The entire Golden State bench. That group is bad. Like, really bad.

X-Factor – Watson played a nice game in limited minutes, and he outplayed his matchup, Jordan Crawford.

Defining Moment – Lance Stephenson made Steph Curry upset. It’s fun when Lance gets under people’s skin.

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He struggled from the field, shooting just 40%, but West got to the line 7 times to help make up for it. Still, it’s tough to give West too high of a grade when Golden State’s power forward, David Lee, went for an impressive 20 points and 12 rebounds.West didn’t get dominated, but it’s hard to say he won his matchup. And that’s ok. Lee is very good.

Paul George, SF

36 MIN | 9-20 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 23 PTS | +9

Not the crazy Paul George night that we’ve come to expect, but productive nonetheless. Our standards are very high at this point, as 23 points and George-like defense is an A+ for a lot of players in this league.Much like West, it’s important to consider the matchup. Andre Iguodala is a tough defender for PG.

Roy Hibbert, C

36 MIN | 7-11 FG | 0-0 FT | 13 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 14 PTS | +9

Excellent from the field, although so was his counterpart Andrew Bogut. The rim protection was there, as always, but you have to expect Hibbert to lock down Bogut more than he did.

George Hill, PG

33 MIN | 5-8 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 15 PTS | +4

We’ve come to expect solid out of George Hill, but he was more than solid tonight. Steph Curry only scored 24, and Hill played great defense on one of the final possessions to force a Curry miss from deep.Oh, and 75% from three is nice, too.

Lance Stephenson, SG

43 MIN | 6-17 FG | 1-2 FT | 10 REB | 7 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 14 PTS | +2

He made Steph Curry mad at one point, which I guess is a good thing.Lance played a lot of minutes, and was once again on triple double watch, where he fell 3 assists short.Struggled from the field, but did enough other things to make up for it.

Luis Scola, PF

17 MIN | 3-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | +6

The Warriors don’t have a good bench, and Marrese Speights has been terrible this season. It’s not reasonable to expect a monster game because of the minutes he gets, but 3-9 from the field for just 6 points against a very good matchup is a bit discouraging.

Danny Granger, SF

18 MIN | 1-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 2 PTS | +5

We’ve seen better from Granger.He allowed Harrison Barnes to create a little offensively early in the game, which helped keep the Warriors in the game as their starters got some rest. Everyone has a rough game once in a while, and it’s clear Granger is still getting back into the swing of things.

Ian Mahinmi, C

12 MIN | 2-2 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | -1

All you can ask for out of Mahinmi. Made both shots he took, and added 4 rebounds in 12 minutes. He’s still big and tall, which comes in handy with Hibbert on the bench. Gave the Pacers quality minutes.

C.J. Watson, PG

15 MIN | 2-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 5 PTS | +4

Solid play all around from Watson, who clearly outplayed Jordan Crawford, one of Golden State’s few threats off the bench.

Chris Copeland, SF

DNP COACH’S DECISION MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |

DNP.

Donald Sloan, PG

DNP COACH’S DECISION MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |

DNP.

Orlando Johnson, SG

DNP COACH’S DECISION MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |

DNP.

Rasual Butler, SG

DNP COACH’S DECISION MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |

DNP.

Frank Vogel

Vogel rode his starters; particularly Lance, who played 43 minutes. This is understandable, as it was a close game against a good team. It probably didn’t matter by this point, but sticking Paul George on Curry at the very end of the game was a smart move to seal the deal.