The Pacers started the game off strong (for once), but couldn’t find any 2nd half offense as Rick Carlisle’s Mavs smothered them to the tune only 40 2nd half points.
The Pacers started well, and finished the first half shooting 58% from the field and 50% from deep en route to a narrow 1 point lead. However, when the shooting cooled off, the team couldn’t compensate.
Without Oladipo, the squad seemed to have no option in the half court, especially in the 2nd half. Myles Turner was unable to capitalize on the Mavs switching smalls on him, and no one was able to really provide a consistent scoring option once Dallas had a set defense.
While 48% from the field and 40% from 3 are both reasonable numbers, the roster finished with 16 turnovers to the Mavericks’ 9. Lance Stephenson played an incredibly high effort game, setting a career high in rebounds and notching his first double double since 2015-16, but led the team with 5 turnovers and had one that cost the Pacers a chance to take the lead with less than a minute left on the clock. Every Pacer but Joe Young had a turnover, and 5 players had at least 2.
More from 8 Points, 9 Seconds
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- 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 Good: The Pacers shot the ball well, when they got their shots up. No one player shot poorly, and everyone who took a 3 made one outside of CoJo.
The Bad: The half court offense. The Mavs switched any and everyone onto Myles Turners during Nate McMillan’s pick and rolls with impunity, and he couldn’t make anyone pay for it.
MVP: Lance, I guess? Led the Pacers in scoring and rebounding, and saved the game with an offensive rebound and a layup, right before letting it slip through his fingers with a wild turnover.
LVP: Nate McMillan. I understand the Mavericks love the 2 point guard lineups, but CoJo was not playing particularly well, and he seems to make the wrong call between Bojan Bogdanovic and Thad Young on several occasions. He couldn’t coax anything out the offense, and made some odd substitution patterns.
X-Factor: Turnovers. The guys handed the ball away far too many times, and it cost them dearly in the end. 7 more turnovers than the 10 win Mavericks in a 4 point loss hurts.
Next: Victor Oladipo to All Stars or we riot
The Pacers face off at the Chicago Bulls next on 12/29 at 8:00 PM.