Live here at the Prudential Center where the Pacers lead the Nets 48-42 after two quarters. David West (10 points), who has finally found his touch, and Roy Hibbert (5 points, 5 boards), who has looked impressive in the paint a few times, have been the best two Pacers on the floor. Here are the vital stats after 24 minutes. Danny Granger (8 points) is … surprise, surprise … struggling to make shots and finished the half 2-for-8. But he did get to the line for 4 attempts (making three) and made a few nice passes. Officially, the team has already had 8 of its shots blocked — though I would have guessed 12.
On the other end, they have played relatively well, holding New Jersey to 37.5% shooting. But threes (NJ has hit 5, albeit of the 16 they’ve shot) and 8 offensive rebounds (several off those long-triple misses) have helped keep the Nets close.
Here are some vital stats.
Here are some other impressions from press row.
- As mentioned, the threes were flying in the Garden State. And for awhile, everyone was hitting everything. Indiana and New Jersey were shooting a combined 8-for-14 from three before DeShawn Stevenson missed two long-range attempts on the same possession after, you guessed it: another Nets offensive board. Both teams cooled off after that, however, finishing 9-of-26 for the half — mostly due to NJ misses.
- So many good things happened on one possession with around 8:30 left in the half. West again put his poised passing skills on display as he drove the left side of the lane and kicked to an open Dahntay Jones in the corner as Jones’ man hedged over. Dahntay expectedly missed the shoot, but Paul George got himself involved in the game by timing the miss and getting his team two points with a put-back dunk. We’ll see if that, only George’s second shot attempt of the game, gets George going.
- When David West (who hit 5 of his first 7 shots) shoots on open jumper from anywhere between 5-18 feet, everyone in the building thinks the ball is going in the hoop. But nobody more so than David West. The look he has on his face as he attempts that shot is what I imagine Siddharta Gautama looked like when he achieved enlightenment. Or what Eddy Curry looks like when he sees the Cheesecake Factory menu.
- With about 1:45 left in the half, the Pacers “ran” one of the worst “plays” I’ve ever seen. Hill brought it up and passed to Granger on the wing. He made eye contact with a wide-open Dahntay Jones in the corner, considered his options and passed it back to Hill. The former Spur dribbled around at the perimeter, at one point yelling at his teammates, presumably to cut, or move or set a screen or do something. He took a few more dribbles before realizing the shot clock was almost done and took an off-balance fadeaway towards the right wing. He missed.
- The next possession, perhaps feeling bad about not passing to Dahntay before, Danny hit Jones on the baseline moving towards the hoop. Dahntay quickly kept it moving, firing the ball to Tyler, who had found some open space under the hoop. Hansbrough caught and went up strong, laying it in — plus the foul. Ball movement. It’s not that hard.