Post-Game Grades: Pacers Win Preseason Opener
By Jalen Bishop
The Indiana Pacers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 103-90 in their preseason home opener.
The Good: 30 points in the first quarter! No injuries! Well, George Hill’s fall in the second quarter was kind of scary but he came back fine to dominate the third quarter. The Pacers shot 48 percent from the field and dished out 19 assists.
Basically everybody that entered into the game played well. The new acquisitions made shots and played hard. I liked what I saw.
The Bad: Nothing bad happened. The 4-out-16 from the three-point line definitely isn’t ideal.
MVP: George Hill. What Vogel and Hill said in the offseason was very true. It looked like Hill just went through best summer working out of his basketball career. He filled the stat sheet and got to the free-throw line five times.
LVP: This is not fair to give out for the first preseason game.
X Factor: Lavoy Allen. He came off the bench to score 10 points, grab seven rebounds and block three shots in 18 minutes.
 | David West, PF 12 MIN | 1-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | +10Got involved on the block. Made some nice passes that led to buckets early on. |  |
Roy Hibbert, C 16 MIN | 2-5 FG | 4-4 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 8 PTS | +4The Pacers made a concerted effort to get Hibbert the ball early on the block and it worked. He made a nice driving hook shot early in the first and got on the glass.
George Hill, PG 20 MIN | 6-9 FG | 4-5 FT | 6 REB | 7 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 17 PTS | +16He went down with lower back bruise late in the second quarter but returned in the third quarter to own the Timberwolves. Great performance.
Rodney Stuckey, PG 15 MIN | 4-7 FG | 1-2 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 9 PTS | -2Stuckey got beat pretty bad on backdoor but did what he does best and that’s take and sometime make tough shots.
C.J. Miles, SG 13 MIN | 2-6 FG | 2-2 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 7 PTS | +4Hit a corner three early but faded after that. The Pacers ran some actions for him to take mid-range jumpers but all clanked out.
Luis Scola, PF 12 MIN | 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | -6Not sure what to grade him but it was a typical Scola game. Didn’t do too much to help or hurt. Nice fastbreak layup.
Lavoy Allen, PF 18 MIN | 5-9 FG | 0-1 FT | 7 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 3 BLK | 0 TO | 10 PTS | +10Got a ton of run with Mahinmi out. He filled the stat sheet and protected the rim.
Arinze Onuaku, PF 12 MIN | 3-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | -1Truthfully, I had no idea who this guy was until I checked the box score. He made a strong face up move for a dunk.
Shayne Whittington, PF 21 MIN | 5-5 FG | 1-1 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 11 PTS | +10ESPN, Maybe he’s not the worst player in the NBA? Nice shot making.
Chris Singleton, SF 12 MIN | 0-2 FG | 4-4 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 4 PTS | -7Singleton played tough defense in the passing lanes but needs to become a better offensive player if he wants to play in the NBA.
Damjan Rudez, SF 21 MIN | 4-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 8 PTS | +10Attempted multiple threes, scored inside and made a mid-range shot in the corner. He has an awkward release.
Solomon Hill, SF 21 MIN | 1-6 FG | 1-1 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 3 PTS | +22Andrew Wiggins ate him up on a couple possessions. Hopefully he has better showing on offense next game.
C.J. Fair, SF 8 MIN | 2-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 5 PTS | -7Was excited to see him play and he did okay. Both shots he hit were really tough.
Donald Sloan, PG 25 MIN | 3-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 7 PTS | +3With Watson out, he played a ton. Nice buzzer-beater to end the half.
Adonis Thomas, SG 14 MIN | 1-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | -1Not much to say here. Nice effort.