Post-Game Grades: Pacers dominate back to back, win in Utah
By Kagan Kiesel
In a game of runs, the Indiana Pacers were able to hold off a fairly unimpressive Utah in the second game of a back-to-back.
Time for grades! Tonight marked the second night of a five-game Indiana Pacers road trip, as well as the second night of a back to back. Last night proved to not be very difficult for Indiana, as they cruised to a solid win over the Suns. Tonight was not much different.
Final. 94. 118. 109. 100
The Pacers came out of the gates looking to capitalize on last night’s win. The first quarter was really defined by two things; Sabonis’s rebounding, and a wild shot by Cory Joseph to end the quarter.
By the end of the first quarter, it already looked like it was the Pacers game to lose, as they led 31-21. However, Utah’s 14-0 run halfway through the second quarter showed that maybe Utah had come to play. That notion was fairly short-lived, as the Pacers immediately went on a 12-0 run of there own towards the end of the second quarter.
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The second half was a little closer. Utah went on a 9-0 run to start the half, which of course, the Pacers responded with their own 7-0 run. The Pacers only outscored the Jazz by four in the second half, but Indiana shot 58.8% from the field, as opposed to Utah’s 43.9%.
All in all, it looked like Indiana’s from the get-go.
The Good: The Pacers did a solid job of moving the ball around the floor tonight. Collison and Oladipo finished with 6 assists apiece, and as a team, the Pacers more than doubled the Utah Jazz’s assist total of 11, with 26.
The Bad: Lance Stephenson was certainly off his game. After finishing last night with a +/- of 11, he was worst on the Pacers tonight with a -10. He finished with 4 points and 2 assists while playing almost 20 minutes.
MVP: Victor Oladipo did what Victor Oladipo tends to do. He got the whole team involved offensively and lead the game with 28 points of his own.
LVP: Joe Ingles started, played 20 minutes, took one shot, and finished with zero points, one assist, and one rebound. Yikes.
X-Factor: In 17 minutes, Al Jefferson came in and posted 6 points, 1 assist, and a game-high 10 rebounds. Not too shabby for ol’ Big Al. Also, Thad Young showed his scoring ability, scoring 17 points and blocking 2 shots.
Grades:
B. 6 points, 6 assists, 2 steals, and only 1 turnover. Not the best, but certainly not the worst.. PG. Indiana Pacers. DARREN COLLISON
A+. The “Oladipope” was a stud, per usual. He led the game in scoring with 28 points (15 from 3’s) and also dropped 6 dimes.. SG. Indiana Pacers. VICTOR OLADIPO
10 points and 4 boards from Bojan…and that’s that.. SF. Indiana Pacers. BOJAN BOGDANOVIC. B-
A-. We got to see the more offensive side of Thad tonight. He put up 17 points, while also nabbing 4 boards and getting 2 blocks. He also finished the game shooting 70%, going 7 for 10.. PF. Indiana Pacers. THADDEUS YOUNG
A. Domas put up 15 points and 8 rebounds while shooting 46% from the field. However, most of those misses came on three back to back to back panic shots in the paint. Overall, not a bad game for Sabonis.. C. Indiana Pacers. DOMANTAS SABONIS
D. It was a really, really, REALLY, rough game for Lance tonight. He finished with only 4 points, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers in almost 20 minutes. Not. Good.. SG. Indiana Pacers. LANCE STEPHENSON
Indiana Pacers. CORY JOSEPH. B+. CoJo had a solid game. In almost 30 minutes he scored 15 (3 of which coming from a wild shot at the end of the first quarter), dropped 3 dimes, and swiped away 2 steals.. PG
PF. Indiana Pacers. TJ LEAF. C. In 12 minutes, Leaf finished with 3 points and 3 rebounds on 1 for 4 shooting…so…yeah.
B+. BIG AL! Led the game with 10 rebounds, and also put up 6 points in 17 minutes. That’s the Al Jefferson stat line I don’t mind seeing.. C. Indiana Pacers. AL JEFFERSON
C+. Joey Buckets only played 6 minutes, but snuck away with 5 points and 1 rebound.. PG. Indiana Pacers. JOE YOUNG
N/A. Poythress played one minute and received one personal foul.. SF. Indiana Pacers. ALEX POYTHRESS
IKE ANIGBOGU. N/A. One minute played and no stats for the rookie.. C. Indiana Pacers
Next: Myles Turner "week to week" with elbow injury
For their next game, the Pacers head to Portland this Thursday to take on Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers.