8 points, 9 seconds
Fansided

Sabonis drops 30, Pacers drop Hornets

By Kagan Kiesel

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Behind an (almost) triple-double from Lance Stephenson, 30 points from Domantas Sabonis, along with 27 from Victor Oladipo, the Indiana Pacers were able to claim victory over the Charlotte Hornets in their final away game of the season.

Well, that was a fun way to end this little road stint. The Pacers came out of the gate firing. Oladipo went 3-for-3 on 3-pointers in the first quarter, and Domantas Sabonis came off the bench early to make seven out of his first nine shots. The Pacers ended out the first with 31 points, as well as forcing eight (yes, EIGHT) Charlotte turnovers early

123. 100. Final. 117. 170

Now in the second quarter, Sabonis took a little bit of a break, letting Glenn Robinson III have the spotlight. Out of the 39 points the Pacers scored, GR3 had 11 of them, nine of them coming from beyond the arc.

Combine that with Lance Stephenson’s hard work on the glass (seven rebounds), the Pacers went into the break up 70-57.

The second half was filled with more of the same. Despite Charlotte outscoring Indiana by eight points in the final quarter, Indiana handled the Hornets with relative ease. Sabonis scored 14 more and added five rebounds to his total for the game. Oladipo also scored eight and nabbed his third steal of the game in the 3rd, making this his 64th consecutive game with a steal.

This game was great for the Pacers. While there were some forgettable performances from a few starters (Myles Turner and Thad Young), there were some excellent performances off the bench, which showcased some of the depth that the Pacers possess going into the playoffs.

The Good: The Pacers bench played REALLY well. Domas with 30 points and eight boards, GR3 with 13 points on 6 shots, Lance with eight points, ten assists, and ten rebounds. It was excellent to see ahead of the playoffs, where the Pacers will need their bench to be consistent if they want to make a deep playoff run

The Bad: The starting frontcourt. Myles Turner and Thad Young combined for two points and four rebounds in over 24 combined minutes. While the bench makes the playoffs look bright, if this type of play continues into the first round, Indy’s chances look dim.

MVP: It’s obviously Sabonis. Set a new career high in scoring (30 points), and also nabbed eight boards and had three steals. All of this happened while he came off the bench (although he did log over 38 minutes by the end of the game). It was one of his best games in months.

LVP: Myles. Despite playing a mere six minutes, Turner went 0 for 4 from the field, grabbed one rebound, and earned four personal fouls. Yikes.

X-Factor: Victor Oladipo shaking ’em up:

B-. Nine points and four assists in 23 minutes for DC. Pretty ‘meh’ game from the veteran.. PG. Indiana Pacers. DARREN COLLISON

“The Oladipope” scored 27 while shooting 80%, and dropped 5 dimes in a game where the Pacers looked to prove what they were capable of in the playoffs.. SG. Indiana Pacers. VICTOR OLADIPO. A

C+. Bogdanovic has had a good stretch of games lately. While the 13 points isn’t bad, doing it on 4-of-11 shooting isn’t the best.. SF. Indiana Pacers. BOJAN BOGDANOVIC

B. Now he did only shoot the ball twice, so bashing him for only scoring two points isn’t the most fair criticism. However, in just over 17 minutes you’d like to see Thad get a few more than 3 boards, but the 3 steals were a nice addition to his stat line.. PF. Indiana Pacers. THADDEUS YOUNG

C. Indiana Pacers. MYLES TURNER. D-. Really rough game for Turner. Missed all four of his shots, got one board, and recorded four fouls and just under seven minutes on the floor.

A+. Finally Domas has his night. Sabonis dropped a career-high 30 points, and recorded eight rebounds and three steals in (probably) the best game of his young NBA career.. C. Indiana Pacers. DOMANTAS SABONIS

A-. Lance made ’em dance! Coming off the bench, Lance was two points away from a triple-double, as he finished with eight points, ten boards, and ten assists. (He did shoot 23% from the floor but we’ll let that slide today.). SG. Indiana Pacers. LANCE STEPHENSON

B-. CoJo had a decent game today. He scored 13 points, six of which coming from beyond the arc. He did have four turnovers to add to the stat-sheet, but overall it was a decent showing from Joseph.. PG. Indiana Pacers. CORY JOSEPH

B. In 23 minutes, GR3 was able to drain three 3-pointers, and score a total of 13 points. His shot is coming back, which is great to see as we head into the playoffs.. SG. Indiana Pacers. GLENN ROBINSON III

A-. Booker is increasingly looking like one of the best late-season acquisitions this Pacers team could have asked for. He scored eight points and grabbed seven boards in just under 19 minutes off the bench. On a completely different note, Booker posted his playoff kicks on Instagram a few days ago, and they’re definitely worth taking a look at.. F. Indiana Pacers. TREVOR BOOKER

Next: An ode to streaking; Indiana Pacers style

The Pacers final regular season game is at home on April 10th, at 7 p.m., against the Hornets.

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