Trying to continue their winning form that they showed in their victory over the Orlando Magic on Saturday, the Indiana Pacers were able to fend off Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Hornets in tonightās win.
The Indiana Pacers returned to form and handled the Charlotte Hornets withĀ relativeĀ ease tonight.
While the game initially didnāt show promise of anything spectacular, Indianaās 23-point first quarter did show some excellent fundamental basketball and produced a few moments that some true basketball fans might appreciate.
It wasnāt until the second quarter that the spark really lighted for the Pacers. With a small(er) backcourt lineup of Joe Young, Cory Joseph, and Lance Stephenson, the Pacers created some wild moments, including BornReady, well, being BornReady:
Never change, @StephensonLance ššš pic.twitter.com/0rb6VfQlrP
ā Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 30, 2018
Coming out of the half the Pacers were looking to capitalize on the 1-point lead they had. While the third quarter contained a lot of good things (Pacers shooting 63.2% from the field, shooting 42.9% from 3-point range, and this), none were quite as good as All-Star guard Victor Oladipo denying former Slam Dunk Contest winner Dwight Howard at the rim:
Victor Oladipo blocked Dwight Howard! š± https://t.co/XCr8iFpRBP
ā Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) January 30, 2018
(Fun fact: That block makes it 40 games in a row where the āOladipopeā has had a block or a steal, the longest active streak in the NBA.)
Down the stretch of the fourth, it really became Indianaās game to lose. Despite only shooting 20% from 3-point range, the Pacers were able to outscore the Hornets 24-18 in the final quarter of the game.
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Overall, the Pacers secured another āWā in what initially looked to be a tightly contested game.
The Good:Ā The Pacersā bench outscored Charlotteās 40-21. While most of that number comes from Myles Turnerās 22 points, it is still an impressive stat none-the-less.
The Bad:Ā Indianaās season-long struggle to secure offensive rebounds was shown again tonight, with the Pacers only nabbing six offensive boards as opposed to the Hornetsā eleven.
MVP:Ā Turner and Oladipo. Myles was able to put up 22 points (12 from 3ās), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block, while playing the eighth most minutes on the team. Oladipo put up a game-high 25 points, as well as adding 5 boards and dropping 3 dimes.
LVP:Ā Bojan Bogdanovic. Started, got 2 rebounds, an assist, and no points. Not a good night for Bogie.
X-Factor:Ā Lance Stephenson. BornReady proves time and time again to be the spark off the bench that this Pacer team needs. Itās good to see he is continuing his solid form, after having a couple of rough games during Indianaās five-game road trip a few weeks ago.
Next: Why did the Pacers defense improve in January?
Indiana takes on a Mike Conley-less Grizzlies team at home this Wednesday at 7 p.m. .
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