The Indiana Pacers traveled to Memphis for a hard fought game with the Grizzlies.
The Indiana Pacers battled hard and found themselves in overtime in game two of the preseason. The result ended up being disappointing:
The Pacers were up three with just a few moments to go, but Yuta Watanabe banked in a three with just a few seconds left to send it to overtime. Indiana kept it close in the OT period but they weren’t able to get it done.
The starters sat out for both teams in this one as both organizations were trying to preserve health and strategy. These two team play on opening night in Indiana, so neither team wanted to show off their game plan.
The Good: We were able to see quite a few players make their Pacer debuts in this one. Tyreke Evans, Kyle O’Quinn, Alize Johnson, Elijah Stewart, and Omari Johnson all put on the blue and gold for the first time. All of them looked relatively comfortable on the court despite it being their inaugural time playing with the team, which is encouraging.
Also, Domantas Sabonis was fantastic. More on him later.
The Bad: 25 turnovers. That was what sunk the team. Aaron Holiday coughed it up eight times alone, and most of the guys who frequently had the ball in their hands had double-digit turnovers. It was rough.
MVP: Domantas Sabonis, easily. He nearly had a double-double after just one quarter, and he finished the game with 17 points and 14 rebounds in just 21 minutes. He was swallowing up every rebound, masterminding beautiful pick-and-rolls, and hitting shots in the posts. He was outstanding.
LVP: Another stinker for Doug McDermott. He finally lost his Pacers 3-card by knocking one down in the third quarter, but he struggled to get anything going on either end of the court. His lack of movement on offense has been disheartening. Hopefully, he can get in more of a groove in the regular season.
X-Factor: Yuta Watanabe. He was excellent down the stretch in this one and hit clutch shot after clutch shot to secure the Grizzlies win.
Grades time.
The Pacers next play on Monday against the Cavaliers in Cleveland. It will be the first time the two teams see each other since the Cavs knocked the Pacers out of the playoffs last year.