Post-Game Grades: Pacers Nearly Choke but Hold On to Beat Jazz
By Jared Wade
The Good: The first half. The Indiana Pacers were wonderful for almost the entirety of the first two quarters. They recorded assists on 15 of their 22 field goals and all 10 players who saw the court recorded at least one dime.
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The Bad: The close. Again. Indiana gave away a game with bad play late last night to the Lakers in Los Angeles. And they nearly did it again in Salt Lake, as unsure ball-handling and general unprofessionalism ruled the day. Ultimately, they did juuuust enough, however, and the Jazz couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities provided.
MVP: Roy Hibbert. He was a beast, and his team-high 22 points came on just 13 shots. He made the most of his touches, and was assertive, decisive, and domineering with the ball. He was also aggressive and active on defense, even though he didn’t always get the timing correct. The look in Roy Hibbert’s eyes tonight was the look he showed in his best days.
LVP:: Lavoy Allen. He missed all his shots except for one.
X-Factor: Balance. Six Pacers scored in double figures and C.J. Watson also had 9 points. This lack of a go-to guy can be highly problematic at times (see the team’s final possession against the Lakers for Exhibit A), but they were clicking in the first half while sharing the ball and getting everyone good looks.
 | David West, PF 28 MIN | 5-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 6 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 10 PTS | +2 |
Had 4 of his team-high 6 assists and 8 of his 10 in the first half. Didn’t produce much after that, though his ability to understand late-game basketball provided some needed calm as Indiana was unraveling.
Solomon Hill, SF 33 MIN | 3-5 FG | 5-6 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 11 PTS | 0His best game in awhile. Right after the Jazz cut what had been a big lead to 4, Solomon Hill capped off an 8-0 Pacer run with an old-school 3-point play. He then got another hoop-plus-the-harm soon after. He looked more confident and smoother out there.
Roy Hibbert, C 28 MIN | 8-13 FG | 6-6 FT | 8 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 22 PTS | -1Beastly.
Rodney Stuckey, PG 20 MIN | 4-7 FG | 4-4 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 13 PTS | +7Apparently is incapable of handling the ball in clutch situations. Turned to putty again.
C.J. Watson, PG 27 MIN | 2-5 FG | 3-4 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 9 PTS | -4Hit his first two triples.
Luis Scola, PF 20 MIN | 7-9 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 16 PTS | +1Stellar work and it doesn’t even phase me anymore to see him put up these type of lines — which would have been unthinkable last season.
Lavoy Allen, PF 20 MIN | 1-8 FG | 4-4 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 0 TO | 6 PTS | +6This shouldn’t happen.
Chris Copeland, SF 16 MIN | 0-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | 0Not good again to the point that you wonder what Damjan is up to.
Donald Sloan, PG 22 MIN | 1-2 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 5 PTS | +4No numbers this time, but did his back-up thing adequately.
C.J. Miles, SG 27 MIN | 4-12 FG | 2-2 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 13 PTS | +5Couldn’t get going after an 11-point first half (shot 0-4 after the break).