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Post-Game Grades: Indiana Pacers End Their Losing Skid With Win Over Timberwolves

By Ben Gibson

Indiana Pacers
Indiana Pacers /
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Final. 88. 86. 102. 100

The final score showed at 14-point margin of victory, but the Indiana Pacers needed big shots from Rodney Stuckey and Paul George gave their team the 102-88 win.

The Good: The bench stepped up as Jordan Hill (12 points), Chase Budinger (11), Lavoy Allen (8), and Rodney Stuckey (7) helped the Indiana Pacers snap a three-game losing skid. The starters did well enough, but it is never a bad thing to see the reserves coming in and picking up some slack.

The Bad: The Pacers are back to reality when it comes to 3-point shooting .Shooting 34.6% tonight may be the norm now, but seeing what their long-range game did for them in November (going 11-2), Pacers fans might be concerned that the sharpshooting isn’t coming back. When the month started the Pacers were shooting 40% from deep, but since December started they’ve shot 34.1%.

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MVP: We may still be waiting for a true Monta Ellis explosion, but 22 points led Indiana and 6 rebounds and 3 assists aren’t bad either. He’s been showing up every night and quietly being the team’s second-best player behind Paul George. I’ve said it before, but for all the concerns about selfishness or dominating the ball, he’s been anything but that this season in Indiana.

LVP: No one really tonight. Even though Glenn Robinson III didn’t have any points, he had 2 rebounds in the four minutes he played. C.J. Miles struggled to score but made defensive plays make up for it. He limited himself to eight shots as he recognized Saturday night wasn’t going to be a good one shooting for him. No reason to give out an LVP tonight.

X-Factor: Rodney Stuckey looked like he was done after he injured his ankle early in the first half. But that didn’t stop him from knocking down a 3-pointer with 2;55 to close the door on the Timberwolves.

Indiana Pacers. PAUL GEORGE. B. <p>Paul George has dropped out of the NBA’s top 5 scorers, but with 18 points on Saturday he might be able to get back there sooner rather than later. Getting out of his recent funk with 18 points, four rebounds, and three assists isn’t anything to complain about. He went 7 of 16 but shooting 4 of 8 from deep is a good make to make up for some of those mid-range misses.<br /></p>. Power Forward

Indiana Pacers. MONTA ELLIS. A. <p>Monta Ellis is the elder statesman on this team and he’s playing like it. It is hard to know for sure if he’s a team leader (we only see glimpses of it during games), but he certainly looks, acts, and plays like one of the team’s veteran leaders.</p><p><span style=. Shooting Guard

Point Guard. Indiana Pacers. GEORGE HILL. B-. <p>Hill’s 7 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists may not look like much, but saw Aggressive George Hill™ at times and that’s the George Hill the Indiana Pacers need.</p>

C-. <p>Not good, but wasn’t dead weight. Bad nights happen, and this was one of them.</p>. Shooting Guard. Indiana Pacers. C.J. MILES

Indiana Pacers. IAN MAHINMI. B-. <p>The Big Baguette had 11 points and 6 rebounds in a typical Ian Mahinmi performance. Perfect night shooting going 4 of 4 from the field and 3 of 3 from the free throw line.</p>. Center

B-. <p>Godney Stuckey rose from the dead (injured ankle) and hit a big shot late to end the night with 7 points and 5 rebounds.</p>. Point Guard. Indiana Pacers. RODNEY STUCKEY

B. <p>Jordan Hill went 5 of 10 for 12 points while grabbing 5 rebounds. A decent night for him.</p>. Center. Indiana Pacers. JORDAN HILL

B-. <p>Lavoy had 11 and 3 rebounds, making 4 of 6 from the field.</p>. Power Forward. Indiana Pacers. LAVOY ALLEN

A. <p>11 points and 3 rebounds on 4 of 5 shooting. Great contribution off the bench.</p>. Small Forward. Indiana Pacers. CHASE BUDINGER

INC. <p>Only four minutes of play, but grabbed 2 rebounds.</p>. Small Forward. Indiana Pacers. GLENN ROBINSON

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