The Detroit Pistons came into town and beat the Indiana Pacers 104-98. Let’s give grades to all the Pacers players.
The Pistons were without Avery Bradley in this one, so there was hope that the Indiana Pacers could pull out an easy win at home. The fourth quarter grades as the best for Nate McMillan and co, but the rest of the game the team was unable to hang with Detroit, and they went on to lose 104-98.
The fear for the Pacers was that they would get killed on the glass. Andre Drummond had 36 rebounds over the teams first two matchups, so it was clear that the team needed to make a concerted effort to hit the glass. Indiana did well in this department and won the rebounding battle 51-44 in this game, but it was to no avail.
Detroit only finished with nine turnovers and shot over 40 percent from three. The combination of their low turnover total and 11 offensive rebounds gave them plentiful possessions to knock down the deep ball.
The Good: The Pacers, as stated, won the rebounding battle. Against the Detroit Pistons, this is no easy task. They had more offensive and defensive rebounds than the motor city squad, showing that they put a note in the gameplan to box out, and they did it effectively. Lance Stephenson, Victor Oladipo, Thaddeus Young, and Myles Turner all lead the team with eight rebounds.
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 Bad: Three-point shooting. As a team, the Pacers shot 9/30 from deep, only 30 percent. Only Oladipo (5/12) and Darren Collison (2/4) shot over 25 percent from beyond the arc. Everyone besides those two guys was a combined 2/14. Yuck.
MVP: Nobody truly dominated, but Andre Drummond was the best player on the court in this game. He finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds and added 3 blocks. He also shot 64 percent from the field and 63 percent from the free throw line. There is a case to be made for Myles Turner as the games MVP, as he finished with 24 points and was the best Pacer, but Drummond was just a bit better in this one.
LVP: Bojan Bogdanovic. This may have been his worst game of the season. He could not get anything going from anywhere on the court, finishing with only four points on 2/11 shooting. He added (subtracted?) three turnovers and missed all of his three points attempts. Worst of all, he was a -24, showing that he had no impact on either end of the floor. Not his best performance.
X-Factor: Luke Kennard was knocking down shots from all over the place on his way to a +18. He looked great in a rare opportunity for him to start. Thaddeus Young was a Pacers high +9 and was filling up all areas of the stat sheet, as usual. He was solid in this one.
Let’s get to grades.
Next: Domantas Sabonis puts Eric Moreland on a poster
The Pacers travel to Brooklyn for a game on Sunday. Bojan Bogdanovic will be looking to have a great game against his former team, and the whole Indiana Pacers roster will be looking to bounce back from a two-game losing skid.