Post-Game Grades: Solomon Hill, Pacers Beat Hornets at Buzzer
By Jared Wade
The Good: Buzz. Meet buzzer beater. Any questions? The Indiana Pacers really weren’t great as far as meshing as a unit for long stretches of this one. They did use fine individual play from most guys though — some early Roy Hibbert buckets and some just-before-halftime iso success — to mask a fairly weak offensive play in the first two quarters.
But they gelled eventually and started to clamp down on defense before the midgame break, and that effort translated to a second half in which the Charlotte Hornets only managed to score 37 points on 41 shots in 24 minutes. Take away Al Jefferson, who was an unstoppable force all night, and the other Hornets shot a combined 10-for-28 (35.7%) over the third and fourth quarters.
Combine that stout D with a bunch of guys stepping up when needed, and you’ve basically got yourselves a perfect game-long microcosm of these 2014-15 Pacers so far: gritty, weird, and not super talented — but enough to be there until the end.
There was also this:
I don't know what's more fitting: That game winning bucket in Lance's return or that bucket/moment on the 10-year anniversary of the brawl
— Michael Grady (@Grady) November 20, 2014
Nice way to wash away the 10th anniversary of The Brawl with that new good memory, Solo.
Most importantly, after losing six straight games, this undermanned, injury-riddled Pacers squad has now won four of its last five games while building a 5-7 record on the year. With this personnel, that is nearly as impressive as the year Michael Jordan won 72 games. Clap for these dudes.
The Bad: 3-point shooting. The Pacers made just 2-of-15 (13.3%) of their long-range attempts. It is quite amazing they can still pull out wins while sporting huge box-score warts like that — not to mention their 66.7% free-throw accuracy.
MVP: Solomon Hill. Who else? Roy Hibbert was better throughout, no doubt, but the game ball goes to the guy who used the ball to win the game. (If we were being completely objective, or I guess if this was a Most Outstanding Player nod, this would go to Jefferson. He was tremendous.)
LVP: Gerald Henderson. Zero points in 24 minutes is a rough look, my dude.
X-Factor: The Pacers big men outdueling Al Jeff’s with a by-committee production approach. Indiana’s only three incumbent vets — Hibbert, Luis Scola, and Ian Mahinmi — plus Lavoy Allen were all on point this evening, shooting a combined 18-for-33 while scoring 44 points.
 | Luis Scola, PF 30 MIN | 6-9 FG | 3-4 FT | 7 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 15 PTS | +15His second excellent game in a row. Where ye been all my life, Scoler? |  |
Chris Copeland, SF 27 MIN | 2-6 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | -5Not his best effort. A few flashes, but sorta just blended into the background a lot, which isn’t usually the way he underwhelms. Usually you notice him more, good or bad.
Solomon Hill, SF 38 MIN | 3-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 6 PTS | +15Mundane night mostly — then he bodied the Buzz on Lance Revenge Night. Best of all: after hitting an out-of-nowhere game-winner for a ragtag group of throwaways that recently lost six in a row, Solomon Hill treated the post-game interview with all the excitement of Barry Sanders getting a first down in his final season. Just mobbin’ like that.
Roy Hibbert, C 30 MIN | 7-14 FG | 4-6 FT | 11 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 18 PTS | +3Monster work, though Al Jeff took him out to the woodshed and taught him what splitting a cord is all about. Still, Mr. Jeff does that to people, so you just gotta tip the cap sometimes.
Donald Sloan, PG 31 MIN | 3-8 FG | 5-6 FT | 9 REB | 6 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 11 PTS | +7Look at Don Sloan, Point Gawdfather, putting up 11/9/6 lines and me not even being all that impressed. If you told me this was possible three weeks ago, I woulda laughed at you. I’m not even gonna give guy an A for this though. That’s how real he has been.
Lavoy Allen, PF 19 MIN | 3-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 8 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | -13Well done, working the boards and doing the little things. Plus plenty of production.
Damjan Rudez, SF 5 MIN | 1-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 3 PTS | 0My man.
Ian Mahinmi, C 18 MIN | 2-4 FG | 1-3 FT | 7 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 5 PTS | -3Well played.
A.J. Price, PG 17 MIN | 3-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 7 PTS | -5Not his finest 17 minutes. Hit a couple of jumpers in the fourth though, so that’s what matters more.
Rodney Stuckey, PG 26 MIN | 5-13 FG | 1-3 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 11 PTS | -4Started off shaky sporting some rust, but got his bulldog mentality back and broke off the throttle going to the rim a few times, getting contact and just generally getting the defense on its heels.