Post-Game Grades: Pacers win another close one, sweep series against Kings

The Indiana Pacers, in the midst of an exhausting West Coast road trip, survive Sacramento’s solid shooting night.

The Indiana Pacers took on the Sacramento Kings — 12th in the Western Conference — on Thursday night, likely looking for an easy W against a tanking squad without their leading scorer in Zach Randolph — that’s right, Z-Bo is the Kings’ leading scorer in 2018.

After one quarter, things were even at 28-28 despite Victor Oladipo’s 4-for-4 shooting. The second quarter was a continuation of that back-n-forthiness. The Kings were up as much as seven before an Indiana run gave the Pacers their own seven-point lead, but the Kings played with their lil’ Willie Cauley-Stein, who put up a frustrating 17 points on an unfathomable 8-for-9 shooting in the first half. The Kings were not going to give the Pacers a break.

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The Pacers led most of the third quarter, but any separation forged by Indiana was typically answered by a timely Kings bucket or two. With the reserves in the game late in the third, Indiana began looking tired and frustrated, and the game was all tied up at 79-79 going into the final period.

Throughout the fourth, the Pacers continued to struggle to put the Kings away, but with three minutes remaining, the Pacers got their biggest lead of the game at eight points off a Bojan Bogdanovic breakaway dunk — the four sweetest words in the English language. The other Bogdanovic, 2018 Rising Stars MVP Bogdan, continued to play well in heavy minutes, but with just a minute remaining things looked good for Indiana. BUT…

The Pacers luckily had the best player on the floor — The Feathery One — and Dipo hit a dagger three to put Indiana up four…. Before Buddy Hield hit a three…. But wait, it was actually a two…. Quick foul and OUR Bogdanovic hit two free-throws… But oh no, THEIR Bogdanovic hits another three… Quick foul with Feathery at the line…. He’s too feathery to miss either, and thankfully a full-court heave from THEIR Bogdanonic misses.

And the Good Guys BARELY get the W in Sacramento. But a win is a win, and those Eastern Conference playoff standings aren’t gonna care that we struggled mightily to beat the tanking Kings.

The Good: The Pacers kept their turnovers down (10) while forcing the Kings cough up 18 of their own — without that discrepancy, the Pacers could’ve easily lost this one. All the starters stepped up tonight, and the team’s 18-for-20 night from the charity stripe was another major lifesaver.

The Bad: The bench. Domas Sabonis’ numbers look aight (eight points, eight boards), but his defensive farts are deadly, and there were a few plays tonight where he looked uninterested in playing basketball. Glenn Robinson III made a few nice plays, but struggled to finish at the rim and otherwise played like he’s missed most of the season.

MVP: The MVP has gotta be Dipo tonight. 9-for-14 shooting. A now-customary three steals to keep that streak alive (now at 59 games). One HIGHLIGHT block:

And the eventual dagger:

X-Factor: 

Next: Bojan's streaky shooting takes the Pacers on a wild ride

The Pacers are staying in California for a Sunday matinee against the Clippers. Catch it Sunday, April 1 (no fools) 3:30 pm ET.