Indiana Pacers get dunked into submission, lose their 5th straight
By William Furr
For the 5th straight game, the Victor Oladipo-less Indiana Pacers starting unit gets rocked on the way to an uninspired loss.
The Indiana Pacers have been needing to start a game with a bang. They instead started this one with a long, loud flatulent sound, down 24-9 to the Milwaukee Bucks before they even woke up.
122. 89. 101. 100. Final
Despite several comeback attempts – including cutting it down the lead down to 5 shortly before halftime — the Pacers always seemed outclassed in this one. The Bucks constantly got easy dunks and alley-oops off back cuts, and the Pacers just had no answers.
The first half ended with the Pacers facing a 10 point deficit, with a well-contested shot clock beating 3 by Khris Middleton serving as a gut punch with less than a minute remaining. The Pacers could’ve feasibly carried some momentum into the half from a relatively strong closing, but the Bucks proceeded to run them out of the gym in the third en route to a comfortable win.
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The Good: Coach Nate McMillan’s 3rd quarter technical foul finally reminded the officials of the definition of an illegal screen.
The Bad: The defense. The offense. The coaching. The Pacers gave up a dunk clinic, allowed the Bucks to shoot 59% from the field and 53% from deep, couldn’t hit a 3, and continued to run out a lineup that’s been consistently thrashed.
MVP: Domas Sabonis. Sabonis set a new career high in points, and just appeared to have more heft than any of the Bucks big men could handle. Jon Henson and Thon Maker wanted less than no part of him.
LVP: Thad Young. 4 points on 2-8 shooting, team worst -22 on the night. Something’s very wrong. Honorable mention: Myles Turner. 9 points on 3-8 shooting against the due of Henson and Maker won’t cut it. 4 of his 9 were on easy putbacks.
X-Factor: The game of basketball. Really seemed like Milwaukee’s understanding of it provided an advantage when faced with Indiana’s utter lack of it.
F. Eff. 9 points on 3-8 shooting, 3 turnovers, 6 rebounds.. C. Indiana Pacers. MYLES TURNER
F. Eff. 4 points on 2-8 shooting, -22 on the evening.. PF. Indiana Pacers. THADDEUS YOUNG
D+. Not an eff. Still NotGreatBob. 13 points, 5-13 from the field, donut from deep. Giannis is a matchup nightmare.. SF. Indiana Pacers. BOJAN BOGDANOVIC
Indiana Pacers. DARREN COLLISON. D+. Got buckets to the tune of 17 points on 6-9 shooting. Watching as his man (Eric Bledsoe) repeatedly sprung various players for layups on back screens.. PG
B. Led the Pacers in scoring with a career high 24. The Bucks had no answer for Domas, and looked just to lack the size to do anything about him. 10-13 shooting is nice too, but 2 rebounds in 33 minutes isn’t gonna cut it.. PF/C. Indiana Pacers. DOMANTAS SABONIS
C+. Started his 5th straight game in place of Victor Oladipo. Filled up the box score with 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists, but finished -20 on the night.. SG. Indiana Pacers. LANCE STEPHENSON
PG. Indiana Pacers. CORY JOSEPH. C+. 10 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists looks good. Several of his buckets were of the garbage variety, and I can’t help but envision the “What would you say you do around here?” scene from office space when I see him out there.
Indiana Pacers. JOE YOUNG. C-. 4 points and 2 assists in 18 minutes, not all of it garbage time. Got run over by Giannis on one play, then shoved out of the way by Giannis just a few plays later. Welcome to the big time, Joey Buckets.. PG
Next: The good, the bad, and what's next
The Pacers face off against the Chicago Bulls next on 1/6 at 7:00 PM.