Post Game Grades: Fun Times in Indiana Again
By Ben Gibson
It wasn’t sadistic to watch the Pacers game tonight and that’s the first step to getting back into a winning form. It is an old sportswriting cliché but they played an unselfish game. Lance Stephenson hit the brakes on his one-man fastbreaks at times and set up the rest of the guys. Everybody looked like they were as ready to pass as they were to shoot and that put them over 100 points for the first time in a couple weeks.
The Good – Pacers scored 100+ points for the first time since March. 15 against… the Detroit Pistons (Ah, the circle of life).
The Bad – Struggled to beat the Pistons at home, but they won with over 100 points. Baby steps though.
MVP – Paul George. Healthy stat line, knocking down 40-footers. Keep fishin’ PG.
LVP – Kyle Singler and his kick to the nether regions of Evan Turner.
X Factor – Lance Stephenson provided a nice bit of excitement when Indiana needed it and more importantly set up other players to score as well.
 | Detroit Pistons | 94 | FinalRecap | Box Score | 101 | Indiana Pacers |  |
 | David West, PF 33 MIN | 7-10 FG | 1-1 FT | 8 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 0 TO | 15 PTS | +1I have no complaint’s. Knocking down shots and grabbed 8-of-13 possible rebounds. (Thanks SportsVu!) |  |
Paul George, SF 38 MIN | 9-19 FG | 5-6 FT | 13 REB | 7 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 27 PTS | +9Dude made a 40 footer.PG’s fishing trip apparently cleared his head as he made just under half his shots. Nine of those were contested but he still managed to hit 66.7 of those shots.
I may be over-grading tonight, but it was good so see these guys look like they were having fun and more importantly, winning.
Roy Hibbert, C 29 MIN | 4-10 FG | 3-4 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 2 TO | 11 PTS | -4Not a bad night for the big guy after he hit his head on the court in the first half. Only three rebounds but SportsVu said he only had eight rebounding chances so I’m not gonna be complaining.
George Hill, PG 39 MIN | 4-9 FG | 4-5 FT | 1 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 12 PTS | +15In double digits for the first time in over a week and hit some free throws late to ice the win.
Lance Stephenson, SG 34 MIN | 5-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 11 PTS | +10Numbers may look average but he gave Indiana a spark that they needed in the first half.
Luis Scola, PF 15 MIN | 3-7 FG | 3-4 FT | 7 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 9 PTS | +6Not too shabby, not to shabby at all.
Evan Turner, SF 17 MIN | 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | +1After taking a kick in the wedding tackle, showed some spunk. Yes, I used the word spunk.
Ian Mahinmi, C 19 MIN | 4-5 FG | 2-4 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 3 BLK | 0 TO | 10 PTS | +11No Roy Hibbert? No Problem.Filled in well when Roy was out of the game and made his shots while racking up three blocks in only 19 minutes.
Donald Sloan, PG 9 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 0 PTS | -8He was in the game at one point.
Rasual Butler, SG 7 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | -6Butler too.
Frank VogelIt was the Pistons so let’s not go too crazy, but the team looked like a team tonight and not a bunch of whiney jerks. I hope Frank had something to do with that.