Post-Game Grades: Pacers Lose to the Rockets 110-98
By Jalen Bishop
The Good: The second unit other than Damjan Rudez. They put together a nice run in the second quarter — C.J. Miles hit a three-pointer in the right corner and seconds later finished a fast-break dunk. Donald Sloan also completed the rare four-point play to bring the Pacers within one point.
The Pacers bench got it within eight in the fourth but James Harden hit a step-back 18-footer to put the Rockets up by 10 with 1:56 left. C.J. Miles and Donald Sloan combined for 40 points off the bench.
The Bad: The starting lineup as a whole wasn’t good. They let the Rockets get out to an early double digit lead and struggled to keep up with them the rest of the way.
The fast-break defense was also bad. It seemed each possession in the first half the Rockets were tipping passes, running the break and finishing with ease. Dwight Howard turned into Dwight Montana in the first quarter. Lots of easy buckets for Houston.
MVP: James Harden. He scored 33 of his 45 points in the second half.
 | Indiana Pacers | 98 | Final |
Recap | Box Score110Houston Rockets
 | David West, PF 26 MIN | 4-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 8 PTS | -27 +/-Gave the Pacers some early offense in the 1st when Houston was on there run. |  |
Solomon Hill, SF 33 MIN | 4-10 FG | 4-4 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 13 PTS | -21 +/-Drained a corner three-pointer to bring the lead underneath double-digits and did some other okay things on offense but nothing noteworthy.
Roy Hibbert, C 19 MIN | 6-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 12 PTS | -15 +/-Made most of the shots out of the starters but he did some typical bad Hibbert things. Dwight went to work also.
Rodney Stuckey, PG 18 MIN | 2-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 4 PTS | -14 +/-Let’s forget this one.
C.J. Watson, PG 24 MIN | 2-7 FG | 4-6 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 8 PTS | -24 +/-Let’s forget this one.
Luis Scola, PF 22 MIN | 2-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 4 PTS | +15 +/-Nothing noteworthy but was apart of the unit that kept the game close.
Damjan Rudez, SF 12 MIN | 0-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | +8 +/-Nothing noteworthy.
Ian Mahinmi, C 29 MIN | 3-5 FG | 3-4 FT | 14 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 9 PTS | +3 +/-Put together a Lavoy Allen-esque effort around the rim. Nice.
Donald Sloan, PG 24 MIN | 7-11 FG | 2-3 FT | 1 REB | 6 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 17 PTS | +12 +/-Good job attacking on the pick-and-roll. He also completed a four-point play on Patrick Beverley.
C.J. Miles, SG 33 MIN | 9-18 FG | 1-1 FT | 6 REB | 2 AST | 5 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 23 PTS | +3 +/-Great game off the bench. Hit three-pointers from the corner and above the break. Put together a nice sequence of plays to keep the game close in the fourth.