Post-Game Grades: Pacers Destroy Magic, Re-Gain Home-Court Advantage
By Jared Wade
Well how about that? The Pacers tonight looked like the way-more-talented team that everyone thought they were headed into this series. Moreover, they regained home-court advantage while once again proving that they could really care less what gym they are playing in. In doing so, they pulled away in the third quater, out-scoring the Magic 32-17 as Roy Hibbert sent a worldwide message that this was his game: 9 other guys just happened to be playing in it. Indian now has an 80-43 edge in the three third quarters so far this series. And also, ya know, a 2-1 advantage in the series.
Game Four will be played at 2:00 pm EST in Orlando.
Here is how each guy played individually tonight. Agree? Disagree? Express your thoughts below in the comments or yell at me (@8pts9secs) or Tim (@TimDonahue8p9s) on Twitter.
| David West Spent a lot of the 1st half being double-teamed and not trying too hard to force through it. Obviously a garbage game statistically but he wasn’t as bad as the 2-for-9 numbers might suggest. | ||
| Danny Granger Whaddya know: Granger can shoot after all. After a monster April, the captain had a lot of Pacers fans worried following his Game 1 meltdown and Game 2 clinic in bad shooting. Tonight, however, he was an ace marksman, dropping 26 pts on just 16 shots. TOs not cool though. | ||
| Roy Hibbert His best game, considering the moment, as a Pacer. The 3rd quarter was all his. He blocked shots, used his size, scored buckets and generally stepped all over the collective throat of the Magic. Was a true All-Star. | ||
| George Hill Doing stuff early and hit a great buzzer-beating jumper to close the 1st half, which otherwise wasn’t being closed sufficiently by Indiana. | ||
| Paul George Was aggressive at times and had some very nice defensive plays. He remains a little raw and inconsistent, but the dimes and the FTAs show just how well-rounded his game can be. |
| Leandro Barbosa Not a ton of stand-out production despite playing more than 23 minutes. They didn’t really need it but they’re going to need more out of the guy who should be their best bench scorer. | ||
| Louis Amundson Active per usual and 2 blocks in just 5 minutes. But not enough time on the court to make a real difference. | ||
| Tyler Hansbrough Surprisingly very little time after a wonderful Game 2. But that’s probably more a result of Vogel giving West every minute he could physically handle by keeping him in longer than normal in the 1st and putting him back in quickly in the 2nd. | ||
| Darren Collison Got a breakaway dunk for the second straight game. Made shots at an excellent clip, although most (I think) came after the game was decided. | ||
| Lance Stephenson Look who learned to hit a jump shot? Garbage-time All-Star tonight. | ||
| Dahntay Jones Played in a playoff game. | ||
| Jeff Pendergraph Played in a playoff game. | ||
| A.J. Price Played in a playoff game. |