8 points, 9 seconds
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Post-Game Grades: Pacers Throw Away Lead Again, Lose to Nuggets

By Jared Wade

Indiana Pacers
Indiana Pacers /
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129. 73. 126. 100. Final

The Indiana Pacers, yet again, turned a 15-point lead into a loss while playing awful D late.

The Good: The offense. Indiana scored at a wonderful rate, putting up a season-high 66 points in the first half and getting everyone involved. Paul George wasn’t even that big of a factor, in terms of usage, but the ball movement was crisp overall and a lot of players stepped up, most notably the team’s two rookies, Myles Turner and Joe Young, who both had career nights.

The Bad: The fourth quarter and general collapsey-ness. The Pacers gave up an unforgivable 45 points in the final period to let a middling Nuggets team, which lost Danilo Gallinari late on a foul out, overcome what was once a 15-point lead. They did so by showing a troubling mix of blah effort and poor execution while protecting their end of the court. That can happen when the rotation is so messed up (George Hill, Ian Mahinmi, and Rodney Stuckey were all out), but it can’t lead to a 45-point quarter. Frank Vogel was just as unhappy as most fans.

MVP: Myles Turner. Monta was probably better overall but then Ellis missed 3 huge FTs late. Turner goofed down the stretch, too, playing some poor help D on a Mudiay dunk and goaltending another shot, for example, but we can’t nitpick a career game. The efficiency was off the charts — 25 points on 11-for-13 shooting — and the Nuggets had no answer for his jumpers and rim attacks.

LVP: Glenn Robinson, third of his name, breaker of transition opportunities, protector of no realm.

X-Factor: Joe Young. Rook came up.

B. <p>19 points on 12 shots is lovely, but he really wasn’t aggressive enough on a night when only 10 players dressed — and two of those were rookies while three others were Solomon Hill, Lavoy Allen, and Chase Budinger. Just needs to take more than 12 shots, particularly when 7 of those are from behind the arc. Then again, that all would have been moot had the Pacers played some semblance of defense in the fourth quarter or generally rebounded at all throughout the game.</p>. Power Forward. Indiana Pacers. PAUL GEORGE

A-. <p>Huge second quarter, scoring 13 of his 24 points, that spurred the Pacers to a 15-point lead that should have been enough to win, even short-handed. Distributed well and ran the offense tremendously. But … although he showed good initiative late to get to the rim, he missed 3 FTs and that was one key factor in the loss.</p>. Shooting Guard. Indiana Pacers. MONTA ELLIS

Shooting Guard. Indiana Pacers. C.J. MILES. C+. <p>Got to the line 8 times, hitting 7, but his shot-making from the floor during his ongoing slump is still icky, with 1-for-4 from deep.</p>

Center. Indiana Pacers. JORDAN HILL. B. <p>9 point in 19 minutes on 5 shots. Can’t complain.</p>

C. <p>There is a reason he wasn’t in the rotation in the first place. He tries hard. A lot of blah though.</p>. Small Forward. Indiana Pacers. SOLOMON HILL

Center. Indiana Pacers. MYLES TURNER. A+. <p>Best game of his career and this alone is much more important long-term for the franchise than what it means to have yet another collapse and late-game pants-pooping exercise by the team.</p>

D. <p>Started, played 20 minutes, got 5 fouls, scored 4 points, and got 4 boards. Shouldn’t ever start again. C’mon, Vogel. You have been options. He might make you feel “safe,” but he is not “good.”</p>. Power Forward. Indiana Pacers. LAVOY ALLEN

CHASE BUDINGER. C. <p>Had one really nice follow putback I remember but not a lot else of note in 17 minutes off the bench.</p>. Small Forward. Indiana Pacers

<p>Helluva game by the 14-year-old-looking deep reserve who hasn’t seen much meaningful action this season. He scored a career-high 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting to go along with 7 assists. Oddly, got no time in the final 8 minutes as Frank Vogel let Solomon Hill play all of the crunch-time minutes on the perimeter with Paul George and Monta Ellis. Solo scored 0 points on 0 shots in that time, although in fairness Vogel understandably wanted the ball in Monta’s hands the whole time and Young hasn’t shown he can play off ball at all.</p>. Point Guard. Indiana Pacers. JOE YOUNG. A+

<p>Hit a 3 early and showed some good stuff in his first start as a Pacer, but also blew several fastbreak opportunities in the second half when the Pacers needed buckets. Finished 2-for-8. Not ideal.</p>. Small Forward. Indiana Pacers. GLENN ROBINSON. D+

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