Post-Game Grades: Pacers Beat Mavs in Dallas

Indiana Pacers

111

Final Recap | Box Score

100

Dallas Mavericks

Luis Scola, PF 34 MIN | 4-11 FG | 5-6 FT | 11 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 14 PTS | +11

LUUUUUIIIIISSSSSSCOOOOLAAAAA!!! Luis scored 14 points (albeit on
4-of-11 shooting), actually made his free throws (5-of-6), added 11
rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, and generally harassed Dirk Nowitzki on
the defensive end all night. Frank Vogel used Scola like a Tony
Allen-esque stopper, mirroring his minutes exactly with Nowitzki’s,
and it appeared to work well, as Dirk was a Dallas-low -17 in his
minutes on the floor.

Solomon Hill played
the $15 million dollar man (Chandler Parsons) to a draw. He shot 50%
from the field (4-of-8), got to the line and cashed in (4-of-4), and
added 6 rebounds and 3 assists. The only minor concern with Hill’s
game right now is that he looks gun-shy behind the arc; very solid
game otherwise.

Ian’s first start
of the season went opposite of what one might expect. He was useful on
the offensive end, shooting 5-of-7 and making 3 hook shots along with
his normal dunks. But Mahinmi was exposed a bit on defense, leading to
multiple Brendan Wright dunks. Not all of this was Ian’s fault, as
they happened when he was crashing for help side defense, but the
Pacers got beat continuously for alley-oops, and Ian has to protect
the rim. 0-of-6 from the line was painful too; he’s down to 34.8%
free-throw shooting on the year.

10-of-14 shooting,
5 assists, 1 turnover, and 3-of-5 from behind the arc. Other than
continuing the Pacers free-throw woes (he went 6-of-9 from the line),
there’s nothing more you can ask of Sloan. He played a great game in
his hometown; it’s gonna be tough to see this guy go back to the third
string.

Stuckey showed some
signs of rust (2-of-9 from the field), but both of his field goals
were 3s (2-of-3 from distance, aided by a friendly bounce on the game
clincher). He played high-effort defense on Monta Ellis (though Ellis
scored 24 points), ate at the line (6-of-6), and had a number of
excellent passes while racking up 5 assists.

Lavoy had his first
“meh” game in a while; 3 points on 1-of-2 shooting from the field and
the line, but he did grab 10 boards, and had a nasty block while doing
his best Roy Hibbert impersonation.

Cope did exactly
what the Pacers need of him in his return to coming off the bench; he
stretched the defense, hit his 3s (3-of-4 from behind the arc), and
didn’t turn the ball over. Welcome back, Cope.

Damo isn’t an
NBA-level defender yet, but he hit 80% from the field (4-of-5), 66%
from behind the arc (2-of-3), and even made a technical free throw for
a team that seems to have forgotten that those shots are free. Keep
shooting, Damo.

A.J. didn’t shoot
every time he touched the ball (4 total attempts), but only made 1
shot to go along with 1 assist. Juice has returned to
Earth.

Miles didn’t play a
great game. He shot 28.6% from the field (2-of-7) and 33.3% from the
arc (1-of-3, with his 1 make being a shot-clock beater). And he didn’t
add a lot else (2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block). But Miles gets an A
for making a positive influence. Miles tenure in Indiana has not been
good so far (he carried a negative PER into the Dallas game), but he
was +12 last night, and looked like he belonged on the
court.