Post-Game Grades: Pacers Fizzle Out Against Raptors
By Jon Washburn
The Good: The first three minutes. Riding high off of their emotional win in Orlando on Sunday, the Pacers starters uncharacteristically came out and blitzed the Toronto Raptors, jumping out to a quick 9-0 lead and forcing a Raptors time out. Rodney Stuckey had it going offensively, David West was moving the ball beautifully, and the entire team just looked more energetic in front of their home crowd. It really was a thing of beauty.
The Bad: The next thirty-one minutes. After that white-hot Pacers start, Toronto seized control of the game with a 73-48 run, if you can even call that a run. The Pacers regular offense showed up as the ball began sticking around the perimeter and practically everyone not named Rodney Stuckey looked pretty futile. Kyle Lowry made a couple difficult 3-point shots, but more than anything, the Raptors just systematically picked the Pacers apart on both ends of the floor.
MVP: Rodney Stuckey. Despite the loss, Stuckey was the best individual player on the floor tonight as he finished with 22 points and 7 rebounds on 50-percent shooting. The Pacers were actually +4 in his 39 minutes of action as well, showing just how bad they were without him on the floor.
LVP: C.J. Watson. At one point early on in the fourth quarter, the Pacers were -22 in Watson’s 24 minutes of action, an impressive mark that was completely indicative of Watson’s play on the night. On one particularly bad sequence, Watson passed up an open 3-pointer in order to needlessly pound the rock at the top of the key a-la Travis Best before bricking a long jumper with his foot on the line. Then, he failed to cover a wide open Lou Williams at the 3-point line who drilled the jump shot. All of the sudden, a possible 5-point deficit turned into an 11-point Raptors league and the game was all but settled.
X Factor: Toronto’s bench. Indiana’s bench has been a pleasant surprise this year, but they were absolutely manhandled by Toronto’s clinical execution as they were outscored 42-25 on the night. Patrick Patterson was fantastic, stretching the floor and knocking down a pair of triples. Terrence Ross and Lou Williams also finished in double figures for the Raptors.
 | David West, PF 36 MIN | 5-11 FG | 1-2 FT | 8 REB | 5 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 11 PTS | +1 +/-Had a few hiccups at the start, but his ending line wasn’t awful. The biggest problem was that you just didn’t hear his name very often on the evening, and this wasn’t a game that the Pacers could afford to play without a strong effort from their leader. |  |
Solomon Hill, SF 36 MIN | 5-9 FG | 2-2 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 15 PTS | -12 +/-A classic “Trick or Treat Solo” game from the second-year player. Hill knocked down a trio of triples, all of which came at big moments for Indiana, but he also made several poor decisions on the perimeter and struggled a little bit defensively.
Roy Hibbert, C 25 MIN | 4-9 FG | 3-4 FT | 9 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 2 TO | 11 PTS | -7 +/-Solid game for the Big Fella, but foul trouble ruined what might have been a more impactful evening.
Rodney Stuckey, PG 39 MIN | 8-16 FG | 6-7 FT | 7 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 22 PTS | +4 +/-Good effort from Stuckey tonight. He made a few puzzling choices on some ball rotations, but he was clearly the Pacers’ best player on the floor.
C.J. Watson, PG 29 MIN | 3-11 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 7 PTS | -22 +/-Really, very dreadful. If Watson isn’t knocking down open jump shots, there’s little reason for him to keep playing ahead of Donald Sloan. Hopefully, George Hill can get right soon so that Watson can go back to the backup role where he excels.
Luis Scola, PF 12 MIN | 1-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 2 PTS | -14 +/-Meh.
Lavoy Allen, PF 4 MIN | 1-2 FG | 1-2 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 3 PTS | +1 +/-Played hard and was active on the boards for four minutes in the second quarter when the Pacers needed to spell their foul-saddled big men.
Damjan Rudez, SF 16 MIN | 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 5 PTS | -9 +/-A return to what you should most likely expect from Rudez. Knocked down one 3-pointer, but his night was pretty uneventful.
Ian Mahinmi, C 18 MIN | 0-1 FG | 2-4 FT | 6 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 2 PTS | -8 +/-He was Ian Mahimni for 18 minutes.
George Hill, PG 20 MIN | 5-14 FG | 1-2 FT | 2 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 13 PTS | +7 +/-Missed a couple of open looks, but he’s so obviously Indiana’s best wing/guard right now that it’s hard to give him a bad grade. He drastically affects the game on both ends and he posted a net +7 in his 20 minutes of action. Also had a beautiful buzzer beating effort at the end of the first quarter to spark the crowd.
Donald Sloan, PG 4 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | -7 +/-Added some energy, but was pretty irrelevant in his four minutes of action. Was a silly foul away from joining the rarely seen “Club 4 Trillion.”
Frank VogelToronto was just better than the squad that Indiana could put on the floor.