Post-Game Grades: Pacers Forget How to Score, Throw Game Away to the Bulls
By Jared Wade
100. Final. 98. 24. 96
The Indiana Pacers now expect to fail late in game — and now never fail to meet those expectations.
The Good: The first three quarters, outside of apparently thinking Nikola Mirotic’s shots don’t count, were generally fine. The late-game defense was stellar.
The Bad: The Pacers scored 12 points in the final 12 minutes, just 6 in the final 8 minutes, and 2 in the final four minutes. In fairness, a few of the misses were good looks. But in reality, many of them were trash shots just sorta hurled unconfidently by players who looked like they were putting up the rock because that is what basketball players are supposed to do more so than seeming like they actually thought the ball had any real chance of going in. It’s been a disease for awhile now, and it’s now beyond clear that this team gets tight late and is unable to execute simple basketball actions because they are too deep in their own heads. They now expect to fail and now never fail to meet those expectations.
MVP: Ian Mahinmi. Who oddly didn’t play for most of the fourth quarter because … reasons?
LVP: Monta Ellis didn’t shoot well, but this could go to pretty much everyone. Let’s let Ellis share this award with George Hill and Paul George, who allowed Jimmy Butler to walk to the hoop and beat them with a wide-open six-footer.
X-Factor: Nikola Mirotic torche the Pacers for 28 points. They lost him in the half court. They lost him in transition. They lost him on good sets by the Bulls. They lost him on broken defense and awful miscommunication that cannot happen this late in the season. They lost him in a box. They lost him with a fox.
B. <p>Stats were fine. His late-game play was not.</p>. Small Forward. Indiana Pacers. PAUL GEORGE
D. <p>Gotta get more points than that on 12 shots.</p><p><span style=. Shooting Guard. Indiana Pacers. MONTA ELLIS
C. <p>Meh.</p>. Point Guard. Indiana Pacers. GEORGE HILL
C-. <p>Hit the rookie wall awhile back, is trying to run through it, is not Juggernaut, lacks confidence, is unplayable at times.</p>. Center. Indiana Pacers. MYLES TURNER
A. <p>He was 9-for-12 with 18 points and oddly held out out in the fourth until the four-minute mark. Myles Turner was hitting for a quick second, but Vogel played the hot-hand too long and watched Turner make a few ugly mistakes while losing whatever confidence he regained before re-inserting Mahinmi. Indiana would only score 2 more points after Ian entered.</p>. Center. Indiana Pacers. IAN MAHINMI
C-. <p>Shot 1-for-5 without putting much of a mark on anything.</p>. Point Guard. Indiana Pacers. RODNEY STUCKEY
C+. <p>Was a quarter inch off on what would have been an amazing game-winner. But wasn’t super accurate otherwise, although fine in low volume and low minutes.</p>. Shooting Guard. Indiana Pacers. C.J. MILES
C. <p>Didn’t play nor affect that game much.</p>. Center. Indiana Pacers. JORDAN HILL
<p>9 points on 6 shots to go along with 6 boards (3 offensive) and a swell putback dunk in 17 minutes. At’ll work.</p>. Power Forward. Indiana Pacers. LAVOY ALLEN. A-
Indiana Pacers. SOLOMON HILL. D. <p>There was plenty of good effort stuff and he was very helpful at times, particularly forcing Derrick Rose into a 24-second violation and grabbing a key offensive rebound. But he shot 0-for-6, missing some must-hit open shots and lost Mirotic at times. He was also one culprit in the poor-communication spree the Pacers showed in the fourth that, ultimately, cost them the game when Paul George and George Hill decided that neither one of them should cover Jimmy Butler 6 feet from the hoop.</p>. Small Forward
A-. <p>Lawson’s first stint off the bench was a delight, with him scoring 8 points on 4-of-4 shooting. He didn’t do much after that, but that is enough given his current role and expectations.</p>. Point Guard. Indiana Pacers. TY LAWSON