8 points, 9 seconds
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Post-Game Grades: Pacers continue to confound fans, go 0-2 against troubled Mavs

By Ben Renz

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The Indiana Pacers end their four-game winning streak, while the Dallas Mavericks end their four-game losing streak

The Indiana Pacers lost to the regrettable Mavericks back in late December, but it was somewhat understandable considering the game’s lack of Victor Oladipo. Monday night’s contest against those same Mavs – this time fresh off some major controversy – was far less understandable.

103. 100. Final. 109. 79

The Mavericks are pretty open about how they’re currently tanking – $600,000-worth, in fact. But the Pacers – on a four-game win steak, but never a group to do the ‘expected thing’ – weren’t going to take the W so readily.

The Mavericks – previously 3-14 in their last 17 games and a bottom-third defensive squad – are 26th in pace (per Basketball-Reference) and made sure the Pacers played at their level, resulting in the Pacers scoring just 103 points despite shooting 47 percent from the field compared to Dallas’ 45.5 percent.

That slow pace was set early, as the Pacers and Mavs played to a 23-23 tie after the first quarter, with Myles Turner’s wild stat line – nine points, six rebounds (two ORBs), one assist, two blocks – tempered by Vic’s foul trouble.

The second quarter was more encouraging, as the Pacers were able to take the lead into the half, up 49-43. Thaddeus Young would finish the half with 10 boards (though just 1-for-7 shooting), but eventual Pacers-killer, J.J. Barrea, hit a few timely shots to keep things closer than they ought to have been.

Dallas’ three-pointers, specifically, burned the Pacers. At the half, Dallas was shooting 6-for-17 from deep compared to Indiana’s meh-fest 1-for-10. While neither line is especially wonderful, one is better than the other. The Pacers also assisted on just six total baskets in the first half. Yikes.

Early in the third quarter, the Pacers’ lead was beginning to look somewhat safe. Dipo grabbed a steal to keep his steal-streak alive and healthy at 43-straight games.

But Vic’s foul trouble continued: four fouls on the night and just 23 minutes of action. The Mavericks continued to slow the pace and shoot their shots, taking a Doug McDermott three-pointer into the fourth-quarter along with a 68-65 lead.

More from 8 Points, 9 Seconds

From there, the Pacers made a few solid pushes to take back the lead from the West’s 14th-ranked team – largely on the back of some Dipo heroics – but a few more Mavs-makes and Pacers-misses sealed this one.

There’s really no excuses for this L. The Pacers are playing for a favorable playoff-seeding now, post-All-Star break. They can’t be losing games to NBA bottom-feeders. It’s simple.

The Good: The Pacers now have five-straight 50+ rebound games – a Pacers record – 14 of which were Thad’s, plus 11 for Myles. Also, despite just the six assists in the first half, Indiana finished with 22 dimes on the game, a respectable second-half improvement that unfortunately didn’t much help get the W.

The Bad: Going 5-for-20 from deep against a team that went 14-for-37. In a game this unremarkable, that pretty much tells the whole story.

MVP: Myles gets the MVP tonight – pretty handily, too. The big man finished with 24 points on 71 percent shooting, plus a perfect 2-for-2 from deep, 11 boards, two dimes, a steal, and a Turner-typical three blocks. ‘Tis a shame those numbers largely went to waste tonight.

LVP: I hate to do this, but tonight’s LVP is Born Ready. Sure, he’s probably my all-time favorite player to watch, but tonight… he just wasn’t. Lance tied Domas for a game-worst plus-minus of -20, went 3-for-10 from the field, missed four attempts from deep, turned the ball over twice, and finished with just six points.

X-Factor: 

https://twitter.com/Pacers/status/968321800949116930

Glenn’s first dunk of 2018!!

B+. One of Vic’s more-efficient nights sadly went to waste: 8-for-13 for 21 points (but 0-for-3 from deep), went 4-for-6 from the charity stripe, five boards, four assists, a steal, and a block. But then there’s that foul trouble, plus three turnovers. Still, a solid night from Dipo in limited minutes.. SG. Indiana Pacers. VICTOR OLADIPO

B+. Bojan was pretty damn scrappy tonight, going 8-for-16 on his way to 19 points, tying his season-high of eight rebounds (three of them ORBs), and an assist for good measure.. SF. Indiana Pacers. BOJAN BOGDANOVIC

B-. Had Thad not shot 2-for-11 tonight (six points), the end result might’ve been more favorable to Pacers fans. Still, the 14 rebounds were valuable, and were just one-away from matching his career-high of 15 – tonight was easily his best rebounding performance in a Pacers jersey.. PF. Indiana Pacers. THADDEUS YOUNG

Myles was getting it done out there. 71 percent shooting for 24 points. SEVENTY-ONE PERCENT SHOOTING.. C. Indiana Pacers. MYLES TURNER. A

D. Tied lance for the game-worst plus-minus with a -20. Grabbed ONE rebound, went 1-for-4 from the field, turned the ball over twice, and briefly annoyed anyone who recently wrote a piece praising the Young Lithuanian (Young L).. C. Indiana Pacers. DOMANTAS SABONIS

D. You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both, and there you have: The Facts of Lance.. SG. Indiana Pacers. LANCE STEPHENSON

PG. Indiana Pacers. CORY JOSEPH. C+. The only starter who finished with a negative plus-minus (-12), CoJoe played his usual brand of CoJoe ball and led the team in minutes-played in Collison’s absence, going 4-for-8 from the field, grabbing five rebounds, dishing a couple dimes, and getting into a little foul trouble himself.

Mighty Joe made a so-so time of his 15 minutes of playing-time, missing a few chippies on his way to a 1-for-5 night from the field and two turnovers, but balanced things out with three assists and a steal proving unnecessary half-court presses do – sometimes – work out.. PG. Indiana Pacers. JOE YOUNG. B-

B+. In 21 minutes tonight, GRIII looked impressive in just his second game back with the Pacers: 4-for-6 to the tune of 10 points, a rebound, three assists, and a steal. Having a weapon like GRIII coming off the bench will instill a lot of confidence in this team going forward.. SF. Indiana Pacers. GLENN ROBINSON III

Next: Sabonis stands in no one's shadow

Next up, the Pacers will take on the Atlanta Hawks for the second time in six days, this time in Atlanta. That one tips off at 7:30 p.m.

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