Post-Game Grades: Pacers Valiantly Force OT but Botch a Rebound, Lose to Kings
By Jared Wade
The Good: The comeback. Indiana was ugly to bad for large swaths of this one, but when it came down to it in the fourth, they knuckled up, played plenty of D, and made some big plays. That’s gritty any time on the road — and even more so on the second night of a road/road back to back.
- 2 Studs, 1 dud from gut-wrenching Indiana Pacers loss to Charlotte Hornets
- Handing out early-season grades for Pacers’ Bruce Brown, Obi Toppin
- 3 positives, 2 negatives in Pacers In-Season Tournament win vs. Cavaliers
- 2 positives, 3 negatives from first week of Indiana Pacers basketball
- Should Isaiah Jackson’s days with Indiana Pacers be numbered?
The Bad: Roy Hibbert’s decision to come out and “challenge” Rudy Gay’s final shot in overtime. Solomon Hill had Gay on lock and forced him into an awful fadeaway look that barely scraped the rim. But because Hibbert came out way too far to protect a nonexistent driving threat, Carl Landry was left all alone under the rim to grab the board and make the game-winning layup.
Also: The starters. They had a ruinous first half to the point that not one of the five even made two field goals. They dug the team in such a hole that even some good bench play meant it took a Herculean effort to recover. Sure, some of those guys were in there late when the team made up for it, but the five-man combination that started the game was not a good unit in this one. Time to mix it up again, Coach Vogel.
MVP: Rudy Gay? I dunno. All he did was take wretched shots down the stretch. But I’m guessing that’s what his coach was cool with him doing since they kept going to it. And he still finished with 27 points on 20 shots. Yes, it helped that Chris Copeland was guarding him for way-too-many minutes as he fortified that stat line, but Gay was also doing work from all around early on.
LVP: Chris Copeland. When he isn’t making shots, there really isn’t much good happening out there for him.
X-Factor: Ian Mahinmi left the game with an injury and didn’t return, so Vogel had to mix up his big-man rotation a bit. It never proved particularly successful, but it did give Lavoy Allen a chance to get on the court and we got to see a few other atypical pairings.
 | David West, PF 31 MIN | 6-16 FG | 4-4 FT | 8 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 16 PTS | -10 |
Was mediocre throughout, but turned it up in the fourth quarter and made some clutch plays. If anything, he was too unselfish late.
Chris Copeland, SF 15 MIN | 1-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 3 PTS | -15Would be shocked to see him in the starting lineup on Monday.
Solomon Hill, SF 37 MIN | 3-12 FG | 4-6 FT | 2 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 10 PTS | -8Struggled from the field but played more than enough defense late to make up for missing some open looks and being too aggressive for his britches.
Roy Hibbert, C 32 MIN | 4-11 FG | 1-2 FT | 7 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 9 PTS | -3Let’s just say he has had better outings.
Rodney Stuckey, PG 27 MIN | 4-10 FG | 4-6 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 4 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 14 PTS | +4I don’t know how to grade this performance. Missed two FTs in the OT and some other makeable shots he created. But also scored during the comeback, and there probably wouldn’t have been an OT to miss FTs in otherwise.
Luis Scola, PF 18 MIN | 4-11 FG | 3-3 FT | 8 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 11 PTS | +6Was terrible then good then meh. Got dem boards, scored when nobody else was to grease the offensive wheels.
Lavoy Allen, PF 13 MIN | 2-2 FG | 1-1 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 5 PTS | +7Fouled too much and didn’t exactly prove that the “LAVOY NEEDS MINUTES” crowd is smarter than Vogel. But obviously making his two shots (one of which was an and-1) was nice.
Damjan Rudez, SF 22 MIN | 4-7 FG | 1-2 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 11 PTS | +3DAMONATION
Ian Mahinmi, C 12 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 2 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | -2Left with injury, but rebounded well while in there and was the only guy who seemed to have any gusto early.
C.J. Watson, PG 36 MIN | 5-11 FG | 3-3 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 14 PTS | +2The only guy who scored in the overtime. Huuuuuge 3 then got a bucket at the rim. Why he isn’t starting at the point until George Hill gets back (and maybe even then), I do not know. Vogel has to see this now, though, and I presume it will be a Watson/Stuckey back court on Monday. (Though Watson wasn’t great in the first half.)
C.J. Miles, SG 21 MIN | 2-8 FG | 2-2 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | +11Lots of bad stuff. An embarrassing turnover and an early-shot-clock, needless 3 at a bad time in the second half among them.