Post-Game Grades: Pacers Ignore Details, Get Tipped by Detroit

The Good: The Europeans. When Ian Mahinmi and Damjan Rudez entered the game in the 2nd quarter, good things immediately started happening for the Pacers. Mahinmi was able to play extended minutes in the first half to keep Roy Hibbert fresh for the closing run while Rudez set a new career high with , including 10 in the second quarter. Mahinmi also enjoyed some of the best smothered chicken the Pacers have had in a while.

The Bad: What my high school coach used to call “the little things.” Whether it was getting pounded on the offensive glass, or twice letting ten-point leads dissolve into nothingness in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, the Pacers couldn’t get out of their own way at times tonight. On numerous occasions, the Pacers did all of the hard stuff on defense, forcing a miss on a tough shot, only to lose concentration at the very end and allow Andre Drummond or someone else to scoop up the trash.

I also wrote the previous paragraph before Drummond’s game-winning tip-in. So there’s that.

MVP: Brandon Jennings. The erratic lefty channeled his inner “Mo Williams,” or maybe just his inner “Rookie Brandon Jennings” en route to 19 points in the 3rd quarter to pace the Pistons. Jennings finished with 37, although Solomon Hill played stellar defense on him down the stretch. In similar fashion to whatever it was that happened on Tuesday, the Pacers played good enough defense on Jennings to make things difficult, he just hit a lot of those shots.

LVP: CJ Watson. Not only was he saddled with foul trouble for much of the night, but he was dangerously close to joining the uber-elite “Club 24-Trillion.” Watson has been a great backup for the Indiana Pacers, but it’s crystal clear at this point that this team needs George Hill back in the starting lineup, ASAP.

X-Factor: David Guthrie’s officiating crew. For most of the night, they were seldom noticed, which by and large is a good thing for officials in any sport. However, the offensive foul call against Roy Hibbert was just other-worldly bad. Andre Drummond, one of the biggest and strongest players in the entire league, will undoubtedly get fined, and will probably laugh it off, and the NBA will admit their mistake, and yada yada yada. It won’t do anything to change this game’s outcome, which could have easily been different had the officials done a better job.

Detroit Pistons

98

Final Recap | Box Score

96

Indiana Pacers

David West, PF 29 MIN | 6-15 FG | 1-2 FT | 8 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 3 TO | 13 PTS | -15 +/-

He wasn’t “vintage David West” by any means, but he ran the pick and roll nicely with Donald Sloan and made some big shots down the stretch. However, his late 4th quarter turnover, missed free throw, and whiffed box out on Andre Drummond’s game winning tip in probably more directly contributed to the Pacers loss than anyone else.

Solo made some timely plays and really locked down Brandon Jennings down the stretch. If not for two (very suspect) foul calls, Jennings would have been scoreless in the fourth quarter, all of which was played while being defended by Solomon Hill.

Hibbert gave an “A” effort, but he just didn’t play enough to put his imprint on the game. Mahinmi played well for the first time since his injury, but Vogel probably should have given Hibbert at least six or so more minutes tonight, as Detroit’s big men provided little resistance to him offensively.

Stuckey didn’t do much in the way of scoring, but he did pick up the slack as a ball handler and creator. He led the Pacers with five assists against his former ball club.

Really, very bad. This was one of Watson’s worst efforts as a Pacer, and Vogel even subbed him out with less than three minutes remaining in favor of Donald Sloan. He also missed a MAMMOTH 3-pointer that could have put the Pacers over the top with three minutes remaining.

Luis shot poorly, but he played a much better game than his field goal stat line suggests. He made lots of energy plays underneath and hedged well on the perimeter defensively.

Damo’s best game as a Pacer without question. He probably should have gotten a few more of C.J. Miles’ minutes in retrospect. Rudez knocked down three triples and also made some timely defensive plays for the Pacers in his sixteen minutes of action.

He’s still terrified to shoot free throws (and with good reason), but everything else was positive for the Frenchman. He was bouncy underneath and looked like the early-season Ian for the first time since he tore his plantar fascia.

On a night where the Pacers failed to do “the little things,” Donald Sloan did his best to pick up the slack. He showed great poise on the ball down the stretch and worked some nice pick and rolls with David West. He DID commit an awful foul on a Caron Butler 3-point attempt near the end, but it was his one mistake of the night.

Rough night for Miles. When he’s not hitting his shots, it’s hard for him to find ways to help this team win. He did make a few nice plays in transition, but all in all, it was a forgettable night.

In hindsight, Roy Hibbert and Damjan Rudez should have gotten a little more run. At the same time, Mahinmi was playing quite well and there wasn’t a specific point during the game where it felt like Vogel was really making a bad decision to leave Hibbert on the bench.
Ultimately, those “little things” fall on the coach, and the Pacers lost sight of a lot of the details tonight, but it’s not like Frank Vogel told West not to box out on the final play.