All good things must come to an end and the Pacers stout defense and Paul George’s MVP-like performances were nowhere to be found in Rip City tonight. Maybe it was dead legs due to playing the 2nd night of a back to back in the midst of their 4-game West Coast road trip. Maybe the guys had one too many voodoo donuts. Whatever it was, you can’t let a team score 123 points, shoot 52% and expect to win in the NBA.
The Good: Nice to see the free throw shooting improve (22-24). Great way to start the game on a 10-0 run that you had a feeling wouldn’t hold up in the end.
The Bad: Any semblance of defense, especially on the perimeter, allowing Portland to score 41 points in the 3rd quarter when they began to run away with the game. While rebounding has been a strength as of late, there was little effort on the defensive glass tonight. Every Portland offensive rebound seemed to wind up in the hands of Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum or Allen Crabbe-Beckham Jr. for a wide open three.
More from 8 Points, 9 Seconds
- 2 Studs, 1 dud from gut-wrenching Indiana Pacers loss to Charlotte Hornets
- Handing out early-season grades for Pacers’ Bruce Brown, Obi Toppin
- 3 positives, 2 negatives in Pacers In-Season Tournament win vs. Cavaliers
- 2 positives, 3 negatives from first week of Indiana Pacers basketball
- Should Isaiah Jackson’s days with Indiana Pacers be numbered?
MVP: CJ Miles. He hit 8 more from long range and did his best to make a game out of this one.
LVP: Paul George. Haven’t seen his name here in quite some time, but he was forcing the issue offensively (0-9 from beyond the arc) on a night when he just didn’t have it. The turnovers (5) reared their ugly head again too. When you have a night like this, you have to give your teammates a shot and let others go to work.
X-Factor: Rodney Stuckey went off in the 3rd quarter and did a nice job of attacking and getting out on the break. His teammates could learn a thing or two from the way he gets to the rim and regularly gets fouled (8-8 on FT’s).