The Indiana Pacers had 9 scorers in double-digits in their lopsided win over the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night.
The Indiana Pacers took down the Brooklyn Nets 132-111 on Saturday night and in the process showed us the depth of this team once again. Victor Oladipo and Myles Turner led the Pacers in scoring, but it was an even-handed effort from the Pacers as nine players scored in double-digits.
While Domantas Sabonis was resting his knee after bruising it in the loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, the rest of the bench went about their business, shooting 55 percent from the field and scoring just as many points.
The upgrades are evident: Doug McDermott spreads the floor with his shooting while Tyreke Evans cuts, bullies, and powers his way through defenders to punish them in the paint and at the rim. Cory Joseph’s defense keeps the other team in check.
An added wrinkle in this game was Kyle O’Quinn’s play off the bench and his 16 points and 8 rebounds. He showed that in Domantas Sabonis’ or any other big’s absence, he is ready to step up and fill the void.
Pacers president Kevin Pritchard said a while back that he didn’t think O’Quinn would sign with Indiana after he told him with their depth, he might not see many minutes. But O’Quinn wanted to win more than anything else, so he accepted the role. In the win over the Nets, O’Quinn showed that he is more than just a veteran presence. He can step into the game and get rolling and nearly post a double-double.
And he’s the Pacers third-string center.
The Good: It wasn’t a dominating performance despite pulling away in the second half, but the Pacers can beat you with a slow and steady grind thanks to their depth. They maintained a healthy lead throughout the second half but a scoring run in the middle of the fourth quarter put the Nets away.
For all of the inaccurate criticisms of Bojan Bogdanovic’s ‘streaky‘ play, it is still comforting that they now have another shooter coming off their bench. In the past two nights, McDermott went 8 of 11 from beyond the arc to answer back to Brooklyn’s own sharp shooting.
While he kept pace with the Nets, O’Quinn and the rest of the reserves limited the number of minutes the starters needed to play in the eventual rout.
The Bad: The free throws. The team went 14 of 22 (63.6 percent), but most disappointingly, Oladipo missed two of his three attempts when he was fouled at the end of the first half. It is a weakness of his, and it infected the entire team on Saturday, apparently.
MVP: Myles Turner’s first half of defense, as well as 14 points and 5 rebounds, might have earned it most nights, but O’Quinn stole the honor with his night.
While he started the night 1 of 5, he finished with a 7 of 12 (58.3 percent) shooting line from the field and hit his pair of free throws.
X-Factor: Darren Collison was passive in the first two games for Indiana, but his aggressiveness on Saturday kept the Nets off balance while he scored 13 points.
Indiana needs his aggressiveness more often, and tonight was a step in the right direction.
The Pacers next game is against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday at 8 p.m.