Post-Game Grades: Indiana Pacers Can’t Rebound, Let One Get Away in Miami

The Indiana Pacers couldn’t grab a board and blew a big lead before losing to the Miami Heat in OT.

The Good: The Indiana Pacers started this game on a tear, jumping out to a 10-0 lead as Paul George led the way. Though they slowed down a bit, they remained up double-digits, at 25-15, after the first quarter as George

The Bad: The Pacers couldn’t not get a rebound to save their favorite puppy’s life in the middle quarters. The Miami Heat got 14 offensive boards on 32 missed FGAs in the second and third quarters, and this led to them taking 19 more shots than Indiana over 24 minutes. Yes. Miami nearly got an extra shot per minute in a sport that has a 24-second shot clock. This is not just preposterous, it is embarrassing and alarming.

This should — nay, cannot — happen in professional basketball. There is real talent to rebounding and it isn’t just about effort. That said, this was about effort. Unless you’re facing a team of five Dennis Rodmans, it is altogether unacceptable to allow an opponent to take 19 more shots then you based solely on rebounding and turnovers. (The Pacers lost that battle in the middle quarters as well, 8 to 3.) If you do that, there is almost no way to win. The fact that this even got to overtime shows just how poorly Miami played otherwise.

MVP: Paul George. He was brilliant but his teammates — the back court with horrific shooting and the big men with the outlandish inability to rebound — let him down. Though he took a few bad shots down the stretch, he started the game scoring 29 points on his first 16 shots. Him going 1-for-7 in the final 10 minutes (including overtime) definitely was not a good look, but had he gotten more out there from the main guys, this would have been a game where the team didn’t need its star to carry the burden late.

LVP: Monta Ellis. 2-for-17, and we don’t need to say much more than that. (One positive: He did earn FTs on his team’s final play in regulation. Another negative: He only made 1-of-2 at the stripe when he could have won the game by hitting both.)

X-Factor: Myles Turner. He shot 8-for-13 on the night, including 3-of-4 in the fourth quarter. The only shot he missed in the last period in regulation? A nice turnaround shot out of an excellent play that Frank Vogel ran for him on the team’s penultimate possession. It was all there but the bucket, rattling out despite all the execution being spot of. It’s funny that in a game where there is so much blame to go along, the Pacers probably win if that ball just doesn’t rim out. Funny sport.

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