Post-Game Grades: Pacers end preseason with a thud in a loss to Bulls
By Ben Gibson
The Indiana Pacers finished off their preseason with a bit of a dud against the Chicago Bulls, losing 104-89.
The Indiana Pacers looked like a team at the end of a four-game road trip in the preseason. The Chicago Bulls came out firing while Indiana simply didn’t look ready to play defense in the final exhibition game of the year.
And that’s fine. It’s preseason. Most of the roster found ways to impress when they were on the court with only a few red flags popping up here or there.
And none of this is to say there weren’t bright spots to be found. Aaron Holiday nearly led the Pacers in scoring with 15 points while Thaddeus Young registered a double-double in his first preseason action. His 16 points and 10 rebounds came in just under 30 minutes of play.
Domantas Sabonis missed out on a perfect preseason of double-doubles with 13 points and 9 rebounds in the game.
All that said, the starting unit looked ugly, getting outscored 75-44 by the Bulls. It’s preseason so there’s little to worry about, but it is still disappointing to see them end the preseason with just lackluster play.
The Pacers finished the preseason with a 2-2 record.
24. 89. 100. Final. 104
The Good: The deep rotation for the Pacers is surprisingly deep. Aaron Holiday showed his scoring ability on Wednesday while Edmond Sumner already showed us enough this preseason to make us believe he’s still got the potential to crack the rotation in the future. Sumner didn’t do much against the Bulls, but between him and Holiday, there’s a debate over who should be at the end of Indiana’s bench and who should be in Fort Wayne.
The Bad: It was the worst outing of the preseason, period.
MVP: Aaron Holiday appeared to enjoy taking on his brother Justin in an NBA game but the older brother’s 22 points were greater than the younger’s 15. We’ll see what happens when they meet in the regular season.
LVP: Doug McDermott remains M.I.A.
X-Factor: Thaddeus Young’s double-double showed despite the starters’ overall performance, he’s shaken off any rust that came from not playing in the other three preseason games.
Indiana Pacers. DARREN COLLISON. C. 6 points and 5 assists while showing some of the aggression needed once the regular season comes.. PG
D+. 7 turnovers overshadow his 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists especially when he went 4 of 15 (26.7 percent from the floor. Strangely, his 3-point shooting was only as he went 3 of 6.. SG. Indiana Pacers. VICTOR OLADIPO
BOJAN BOGDANOVIC. D. 6 points and 4 rebounds while watching the Bulls collectively pants him and the rest of the starters.. SF. Indiana Pacers
Indiana Pacers. THADDEUS YOUNG. C+. Thad’s defense wasn’t great, but hey, a double-double is good, right?. PF
4 points and 3 rebounds in limited minutes and looked as bad as the rest of the starts.. C. Indiana Pacers. MYLES TURNER. D-
C. Indiana Pacers. DOMANTAS SABONIS. B. 13 points and 9 rebounds in limited minutes have us wondering if he can average a double-double in the regular season.
C-. Shot slightly better than Oladipo with a 3 of 11 (27.3 percent) performance. Wasn’t an overly impressive preseason, but there’s little reason to worry about him just yet.. SG. Indiana Pacers. TYREKE EVANS
D. 1 of 3 only got him 2 points to go with his 5 rebounds.. SF. Indiana Pacers. DOUG MCDERMOTT
KYLE O'QUINN. C-. 2 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 good beard.. C. Indiana Pacers
A. 15 points while finessing his way around the basket and letting them fly from deep.. PG. Indiana Pacers. AARON HOLIDAY
C. Indiana Pacers. IKE ANIGBOGU. BB. B is for block, and he had two of them.
C. 2 points, 2 assists, and 2 rebounds.. PF. Indiana Pacers. ALIZE JOHNSON
PG. Indiana Pacers. EDMOND SUMNER. C. 2 points, a rebound, an assists, and a steal.
The Pacers next game is at home at 7 p.m. against the Memphis Grizzlies to start the regular season. They lost to the Grizz in their second preseason game.