8 points, 9 seconds
Fansided

Post-Game Grades: Pacers Pull Away, Beat Jazz

By Jared Wade

Nov 10, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert (55) takes a shot against Utah Jazz forward Derrick Favors (15) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana defeats Utah 97-86. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 10, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert (55) takes a shot against Utah Jazz forward Derrick Favors (15) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana defeats Utah 97-86. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Good: The Indiana Pacers won. They are still just 2-6, but this always-undermanned, completely outgunned roster has been competitive in every game this season. They deserved a W, and it must be a relief in that locker room to come up on the right end for once — especially when literally every guy who played made some real contributions.

Even the guys whose lines don’t look good were big. Damjan Rudez hit a fourth-quarter 3 as the team was pulling away, and Ian Mahminmi made a timely jumper right after that. And while Donald Sloan’s 1-for-9 shooting night was ugly, he only turned the ball over once, setting the tone for a poised, team-wide offensive night that only saw the Pacers cough it up 7 times.

Clap for these dudes.

The Bad: The first quarter offense was pretty bad. Had Roy Hibbert not been making everything he tossed at the rim, the Jazz could have gotten way out ahead and gained enough road confidence to make this a blowout the other way.

MVP: You want to say A.J. Price since he probably won’t be on the team in two weeks, but it was Roy Hibbert. The big fella was a monster on both ends, making aggressive, confident, purposeful moves all evening and keeping Utah from scoring in the paint on the other end. The Jazz scored just 32 of their 86 points in the paint, and the one-time DPOY candidate was the biggest reason. (Gordon Hayward was equally excellent, scoring 30 points on just 15 shots — plus 8 boards and 5 dimes.)

LVP: Dante Exum was trash.

X-Factor: Lavoy Allen. He grabbed 15 boards (6 offensive) and added 12 points plus some timely plays all over.

Utah Jazz86Final
Recap | Box Score		97Indiana Pacers
Luis Scola, PF 25 MIN | 4-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 8 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 8 PTS | -2

Wasn’t awful, but still disappointing out there. Lavoy Allen should be starting.

Chris Copeland, SF 26 MIN | 2-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | -4

Didn’t get many shots up and had some foul trouble. But did drill two 3s in succession in the second half breathe some life into the Indiana Pacers offense.

Solomon Hill, SF 37 MIN | 5-12 FG | 3-4 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 13 PTS | +3

Really nice play all around, with his dunk being the highlight. He’s a player.

Roy Hibbert, C 33 MIN | 11-21 FG | 7-7 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 29 PTS | -4

Monster.

Donald Sloan, PG 29 MIN | 1-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 2 PTS | +6

As mentioned above, he managed the offense well and didn’t turn it over. But he was 0-for-8 until making a meaningless layup right before the final buzzer.

Lavoy Allen, PF 27 MIN | 6-12 FG | 0-0 FT | 15 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 12 PTS | +17

Really active and a plus in about every way he could be.

Damjan Rudez, SF 29 MIN | 1-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 3 PTS | +15

Hit that one 3, didn’t get completely torched by Gordon Hayward when he guarded him. Yeah, Hayward was damn excellent with his 30-point outing and he did score on Rudez, but he was just one his game tonight, making tough ones near the Croatian.

Ian Mahinmi, C 10 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 2 PTS | +7

Fine.

A.J. Price, PG 25 MIN | 8-12 FG | 3-4 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 22 PTS | +17

Really sucks that he can’t probably stick around.

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