The Indiana Pacers were forced to grind out a win over the Philadelphia 76ers, but they closed the door as experienced teams are expected to do.
Welcome to another edition of belated grades! Where we get behind and look at a game we should have gotten grades on sooner. In this case, it’s the Indiana Pacers grinding win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Regardless of what the standings might say, the Pacers should have taken care of business much sooner in the game. That might just be a testament to the potential of the young 76ers, who were playing in the second game of a back-to-back.
Despite the close nature of the game, it’s worth noting the Pacers played exceptionally good defense, holding the 76ers to an offensive rating of 91.5. The problem for Indiana was that they only averaged a 4.6 point lead on Philadelphia. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the Pacers took and maintained any sort of cushion.
The Good: The defense, as mentioned above, was the reason the Pacers won. Indiana’s field goal percentage was 44.3%, hardly anything to write home about, and their 33.3% mark from deep is right on the Mendoza line of 3-point shooting.
The bench led the charge in many ways, as everyone but Joe Young got to boast about their +/-. Lance Stephenson did several Lance Stephenson things, but the bench’s offense was mostly an even-handed effort.
Lance being Lance from another angle. pic.twitter.com/e55x5SKVsp
— 8 Points, 9 Seconds (@8pts9secs) February 4, 2018
The Bad: Was it the injuries — Victor Oladipo and Darren Collison missed the next game — or did the starters just not show up?
Well, at least the offense failed to show up. Most of Indiana’s roster shot 45.5% or less, though Bojan Bogdanovic at least made up for his misses my going 4 of 7 from deep. The same can’t be said for Lance Stephenson or Victor Oladipo, who went a combined 2 of 10.
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But getting back to the starters, they struggled to push the lead or even maintain it at times. This game should have been put away much sooner, but the lack of efficient buckets made things more dramatic than needed.
MVP: Surprisingly, Bojan earned this. His 19 points were tied with Oladipo’s for the team’s lead, but his 3’s give him an edge. Even on a bad night, Oladipo’s gravity is what makes Indiana offense work at all, but Bojan’s four 3-pointers were the difference.
LVP: Myles Turner, but with a qualifier. His -27.5 net rating was the worst on the team as foul trouble played a role is his rough outing, but he also played great defense as a 89.5 defensive rating attests to.
The problem too often for Myles is his lack of offense, especially when his shot doesn’t fall. he went 0 for 5. But again, those fouls kept him from playing more than 15 minutes. It’s games like these that are the most frustrating.
X-Factor: Lance Stephenson, isn’t it always him? His 14 points trailed only Bojan and Victor’s 19, but more importantly, he created many of the bench’s scoring chances.
Next: Point Guard Mondays: Edmond Sumner is coming alive
The Pacers went on to lose to the Washington Wizards on Monday night.