A Few Minutes of Bad Basketball Kills the Indiana Pacers in Game 2
By Ben Gibson
The Indiana Pacers let a few minutes of basketball determine the fate of their Game 2 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Indiana Pacers are frustrating.
If they just lost games unimpressively, it might be easy to not get let down. But dammit, they reel us back in every time with hope.
Kevin Love’s 10 point run in the third quarter was the most obvious moment where you were reminded how hard this series is for the Pacers. Blame Nate McMillan for letting Love go at Lance Stephenson for too long, but blame Larry Bird for not giving him a lot of roster flexibility. Nate should have done anything differently, I just don’t know if anything he would have done was really going to work. Four minutes of basketball savaged Indiana.
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Again, hard to defend McMillan, but even if you throw Thaddeus Young or Myles Turner on Love, I don’t know if the Cavaliers get slowed down that much more.
It really was that short stretch, too. The Pacers outscored Cleveland 91-84 in the first half and fourth quarter, but that 33-20 beating in the third was the difference maker.
I also don’t know how McMillan can start Monta Ellis again. Put Glenn Robinson III in there at least, because the starters were outscored, but the starters minus Monta, plus Lance killed the Cavaliers.
The Pacers aren’t that far off from taking a game or two in this series — though it is worth noting we haven’t seen LeBron covering Paul George all that much — which is why it is so frustrating to watch these games.
A. Paul George was 9 of 19, 3 of 9 from deep, and scored a team-high 29 points. He also led the Pacers with 8 rebounds and 7 assists. Playoff Paul George is still hanging around.. Small Forward. Indiana Pacers. PAUL GEORGE
Jeff Teague bounced back from a so-so Game 1 to go 8 of 12 from the field and 2 of 3 from deep, scoring 23 points.. Point Guard. Indiana Pacers. JEFF TEAGUE. A
D. 5 rebounds and 3 blocks are great, but 3 of 9 shooting isn’t enough. Considering how well he played against the Raptors last year, this postseason is disappointing so far.. Center. Indiana Pacers. MYLES TURNER
B+. A solid 7 of 11 as Thaddeus Young scored 16 points. Surprisingly he led the team in steals with six.. Power Forward. Indiana Pacers. THADDEUS YOUNG
2 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists. His troubles are covered up by the rest of the starters.. Shooting Guard. Indiana Pacers. MONTA ELLIS. D
Indiana Pacers. LANCE STEPHENSON. B-. Lance Stephenson scored 11 points on 5 of 12 shooting while handing out 4 assists. He had some bad moments in this game, but still is a overall plus for the Pacers.. Shooting Guard
Indiana Pacers. C.J. MILES. C+. 9 points and 2 rebounds.. Shooting Guard
C+. Welcome back from your injury, Glenn Robinson III. Made a 3-point and a foul shot for 4 points. Didn’t look bad, but didn’t look great either.. Small Forward. Indiana Pacers. GLENN ROBINSON III
C-. A lone rebound in limited minutes.. Power Forward. Indiana Pacers. LAVOY ALLEN
Indiana Pacers. KEVIN SERAPHIN. C. 6 points and 4 rebounds are fine and all, but he struggled on defense.. Center