Game Grades: Clutch defense leads Pacers over Warriors
By Tony East
The Pacers took down the defending champion Golden State Warriors 92-81. Let’s take a look at each Pacers players performance.
The transitive property is my favorite. Thanks to it, we can now declare the Indiana Pacers the best team in the league, as they just defeated the 2017 NBA champions on the road in Oakland.
Final. 82. 41. 91. 100
Now, of course, that isn’t actually true. The Warriors are still the 2017 NBA champions. But also important is that, while this game doesn’t actually come with an asterisk, it probably should. The Pacers played great defense, especially in the 4th quarter when they only gave up 11 points, but they were basically playing the Warriors JV squad. Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green (a bunch of nobodies, honestly) were all out, and additional injuries to Omri Casspi and two-way player Chris Boucher were just icing on the cake.
But the Pacers still won given the circumstances, and they deserved it. The defense they showed was sublime and continues a trend of great defensive games over the past month or two.
The Good: (Beating a dead horse alert) The Pacers defense. Not one Warriors player hit more than five shots, and the best shooting percentage by a Golden State starter was Zaza Pachulia. He made half of his… four field goal attempts. The Pacers were everywhere.
The Bad: Rebounding. The Warriors had 17 offensive rebounds to the Pacers eight and finished the game with 13 more total rebounds than Indiana. If the Pacers weren’t forcing so many misses, those extra possessions could have turned this game into a Golden State win.
MVP: Victor Oladipo. After struggling, and I mean really struggling, over the weekend, Vic was remarkable in this one. 9/12 from the field, 2/3 from deep, six rebounds, six assists, and two steals. His shot selection looked awesome in this game, and he brought along his impact in other areas of the game like he usually does. Put it all together, and you have an All-star performance.
LVP: I hate that I even have to give this to someone. Nobody turned the ball over more than two times, and nobody was a particular hindrance in this game. The second unit struggled to keep JaVale McGee and Kevon Looney off the glass, so I guess I’ll go with Domantas Sabonis as LVP. But he gets a pass anyway, he is coming off of an injury and had to play bigger minutes since Trevor Booker went down with an ankle injury. So there’s an asterisk, but Sabonis is the LVP*.
X-Factor: Bojan Bogdanovic. Mr. streaky himself is back to being hot, posting three great shooting games in a row. Tonight, he led the Pacers in +/- at +16. According to the game notes, the Pacers are 18-5 when Bojan makes three or more long-range bombs. Guess how many he hit tonight?
This was a strange game for Collison. The shots weren’t falling, he was just 1/7, but he held Quinn Cook to 5/17 shooting and only turned it over once. He found a way to overcome his shooting shortcomings.. PG. Indiana Pacers. DARREN COLLISON. B-
SG. Indiana Pacers. VICTOR OLADIPO. A. It feels good to be giving Oladipo an A again. Just read the MVP section, he was everywhere tonight and canned almost all of his shots.
Indiana Pacers. BOJAN BOGDANOVIC. A. More A’s! Bojan’s spacing is just so helpful, and when he is hitting shots (3/6 from deep), he is arguably the most important offensive player. He also had two steals, which is way higher than his normal amount. This was a great Bogdanovic game.. SF
PF. Indiana Pacers. THADDEUS YOUNG. B+. Not Thad’s best night shooting (just 8/17), but he was the only guy who looked like he gave a damn on the glass and he had 10 rebounds (five offensive). Thad gonna Thad.
A third rough shooting game in a row for Turner. He did help space the floor tremendously though, and he deterred quite a few shots at the rim. Even when the shot isn’t falling (stop fading away!) Myles impacts the game elsewhere.. C. Indiana Pacers. MYLES TURNER. C+
C+. Welcome back, big fella! Didn’t miss a shot. Had to play more minutes than expected thanks to Booker’s injury. Everything else, he gets a pass on since he missed two weeks. Happy to have you back, Domas.. C. Indiana Pacers. DOMANTAS SABONIS
B-. Lance had a solid defensive game and did some stuff on the boards. Unfortunately, the shot wasn’t falling for him, as he shot just 3/8.. SG. Indiana Pacers. LANCE STEPHENSON
B-. Basically the same game as Lance. CoJo played amazing team defense, as usual, but the shot just wasn’t going down for him. 2/7 shooting on the second unit ain’t great.. PG. Indiana Pacers. CORY JOSEPH
GLENN ROBINSON III. B. I am giving GR3 a B even though he had the worst +/- on the team. Why? Because he is starting to look more and more like GR3. He hit a sick jumper out of the pick and pop early on, and he even had a 360 dunk in the 3rd quarter. His athleticism is creeping back, which could make him deadly down the stretch.. SG. Indiana Pacers
Booker hurt his right ankle after just two minutes of playing time. He made his only shot and was a +2, but that isn’t important. Let’s just hope Booker gets healthy soon.. F. Indiana Pacers. TREVOR BOOKER. :(
Next: You can’t take Born Ready out of Lance Stephenson
The Pacers take on the Sacramento Kings on Thursday in Sacramento. At 10 p.m. EST (yawn). These late games are a challenge, but the Pacers make it worth it.