The Good: George Hill and David West continue to thrive together as both scored 17 points and combined for 16 assists in a dismantling of the New Orleans Pelicans. West got going early and shot 8 of 9 on the night while Hill was 4 of 5 from 3-point range and looked supremely confident in himself all-night long. Sure, the Pelicans didn’t look ready to play or even that interested in the game, but you can’t fault Indiana for showing up and picking up a win especially if they still hope to make the playoffs.
More from 8 Points, 9 Seconds
- 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 Pacers are going to need to capitalize on opportunities like they had tonight. Indiana may only be a few games out of the eighth seed, but they have little to no-room for error the rest of the way as they will likely need to win at least two-thirds of their remaining games. They’ve looked like a completely different team with George Hill back in the line-up, and having his scoring and ability to set-up his teammates has boosted the offense while the defense remains in the top-half of the league. As Quinn Buckner said in the broadcast tonight, Indiana looks much more comfortable with George Hill back.
If Hill hadn’t been hurt twice this season for multiple games, you could make an argument that he was playing at an All-Star level.
Let’s look at some more numbers.
Roy Hibbert is not an analytics man. https://t.co/xcPAJod1sv
— whitney (@its_whitney) February 12, 2015
Nevermind.
The Bad: The Pelicans. Without Ryan Anderson or Anthony Davis it was apparent that New Orleans was ready for Mardi Gras and the All-Star Break.
#Pelicans shot chart through 2 1/2 quarters tonight against the #Pacers. THE BLOOD, IT’S EVERYWHERE pic.twitter.com/0GBIQHqDqW — Mason Ginsberg (@MasonGinsberg) February 12, 2015
MVP: It was West or Hill, you can pick either.
The David West/George Hill basketball bromance is back. https://t.co/CVSxr9Ol71 — whitney (@its_whitney) February 12, 2015
LVP: This thing.
Our lucky winners getting ready to ride with King Cake Baby in our Mardi Gras Madness halftime parade. pic.twitter.com/zEb1n12all — New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) February 12, 2015
X-Factor: Rodney Stuckey shot 7 of 10 from the field and 2 of 3 from beyond the arc. You can’t count on that every night but his strong performance kept the Pacers from giving up much of their lead and mentally kept the Pelicans disengaged from the night’s proceedings. Scola gets an honorable mention with 7 points and as many rebounds.
Now to the grades.
 | David West, PF 28 MIN | 8-9 FG | 1-2 FT | 5 REB | 7 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 17 PTS | +26 +/-Got things going early with his shooting, making 5 of 5 in the first quarter. Brutally efficient on the night while also playing the role of facilitator. Can’t think of anything to knock him for. |  |
Solomon Hill, SF 27 MIN | 4-5 FG | 2-2 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 12 PTS | +12 +/-The second best Hill on the court, and that’s perfectly acceptable.
Roy Hibbert, C 19 MIN | 3-6 FG | 3-3 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 2 BLK | 2 TO | 9 PTS | +15 +/-No reason to complain about Roy’s work other than he got into foul trouble. The Pacers didn’t need anything from Hibbert and they would have won.
George Hill, PG 29 MIN | 6-11 FG | 1-1 FT | 3 REB | 9 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 17 PTS | +26 +/-Just one assist shy of a double-double and only had one turnover in the process. This wasn’t even the aggressive George Hill everyone asks for. Hill took his time shooting and buried all but one of his 5 3-point attempts.
C.J. Miles, SG 23 MIN | 4-11 FG | 1-1 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 9 PTS | +27 +/-Not his best night shooting, but wasn’t needed. The starting unit played stellar defense and allowed the crowd in New Orleans to leave early and enjoy the French Quarter.
Shayne Whittington, PF 6 MIN | 0-2 FG | 4-4 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | -17 +/-Everything counts in small amounts.
Luis Scola, PF 18 MIN | 2-6 FG | 3-3 FT | 7 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 7 PTS | +5 +/-A solid night from Scola with his 7 and 7.
Chris Copeland, SF 6 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | -17 +/-Remember when he was a starter earlier this year?
Damjan Rudez, SF 20 MIN | 3-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | -7 +/-No 3-pointers? I’m disappointed.
Ian Mahinmi, C 19 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 8 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 2 PTS | +14 +/-Only 2 points, but the 8 rebounds were part of the reason the bench gave up little to no ground. Made his 19 minutes productive ones.
Donald Sloan, PG 6 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | -17 +/-Meh.
Rodney Stuckey, PG 13 MIN | 7-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 16 PTS | +4 +/-Stuckey was the X-Factor and powered the second unit.
C.J. Watson, PG 26 MIN | 2-6 FG | 2-2 FT | 1 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 7 PTS | -6 +/-Not bad.
Frank VogelPreached to treat the game as a 0-0 situation despite holding the lead throughout, but I’m knocking off points for not picking up his 3rd technical in as many games.
