Grades: Aaron Holiday shines as Indiana Pacers bench pluck the Atlanta Hawks
By Ben Gibson
Aaron Holiday and the bench (plus Bojan Bogdanovic) helped the Indiana Pacers close out the Atlanta Hawks.
Get well soon, Victor Oladipo. He came into the game with a sore right knee, but after just five minutes, he took himself out of the game and did not return. However, the Indiana Pacers didn’t need him to beat the Atlanta Hawks.
With Oladipo out, the game was destined to follow the usual SEGABABA script: Tired Pacers struggle to put away an inferior team, but as the game wears on, their depth wins out. The only real surprise was who did it.
And unlike the night before against the Miami Heat, the starters didn’t need the bench to save them. That said, the bench didn’t have a bad night either, including rookie Aaron Holiday. More on that in a bit.
Coach Nate McMillan rode the hot hand as a lineup of Holiday, Cory Joseph Bojan Bogdanovic, Doug McDermott, Domantas Sabonis built up a 10-point lead late for the Pacers. It still was a bit ugly going into the second half, but it was more or less an eventuality that the Pacers were going to pull away.
125. 97. 100. Final. 89
Aaron Holiday can get buckets
As soon as he stepped into the game, he made an impact by dropping a 3-pointer. The effort was there defensively too, but dropping 12 points in around 15 minutes shows scoring won’t be a problem for him in the NBA.
He is undersized but as long as he picks his spots as he did against the Hawks, he is getting buckets. Also grabbed 3 rebounds and handed out 2 assists.
Bojan Bogdanovic remains consistent
With Oladipo out, Bogdanovic kept his scoring going with 22 points on 7 of 12 shooting, including 3 of 5 from deep.
Will Bojan have off nights? Of course, everyone does. But this season they’ve been mostly absent. He’s scored 20 or more points more times than he scored in single-digits this season.
Myles Turner grabbed a double-double
10 points and 11 rebounds for the mercurial center. His stats could have been better had Nate not been riding the hot hand. More importantly, it’s a confidence builder after a solid outing against the Heat. It’s hard to gauge confidence, but solid performances are the way to build it back for Myles Turner.
Indiana Pacers. DARREN COLLISON. B. 12 points and 5 rebounds and shot the ball well. The entire team struggled early on, but it’s hard to knock him for much other than missing some two-pointers.. PG
☤. Get well soon.. SG. Indiana Pacers. VICTOR OLADIPO
A-. With Oladipo out, Indiana needed scoring. Enter Bojan. He went 7 of 12 from the field and 3 of 5 from deep. The four rebounds were countered by four turnovers, but his scoring was needed in the win.. SF. Indiana Pacers. BOJAN BOGDANOVIC
THADDEUS YOUNG. B. 11 points and 7 rebounds, as well as a speech in the huddle that helped kickstart the Pacers eventual win.. PF. Indiana Pacers
A. A double-double for Myles, and a +13 +/- led the Pacers. C. Indiana Pacers. MYLES TURNER
No double-double, but 9 points and 16 rebounds. Both he and Turner didn’t struggle to grab board from the Hawks, who actually are around league average in rebounding.. C. Indiana Pacers. DOMANTAS SABONIS. A
C. 11 points and 2 rebounds while shooting 4 of 12 isn’t great, but when you can rest him and let a rookie like Holiday take over, it’s hard to be too tough on Evans stats.. SG. Indiana Pacers. TYREKE EVANS
B-. <strong>Odd stat line: </strong>2 points: ? 5 assists: ? 7 turnovers: ? 5 steals: ? 2 rebounds: ?. PG. Indiana Pacers. CORY JOSEPH
D. His 2 of 8 shooting and 0 of 4 from deep aren’t great, Bob.. SF. Indiana Pacers. DOUG MCDERMOTT
A. Happy Holiday!. PG. Indiana Pacers. AARON HOLIDAY
This ain’t your grandma's Kyle O’Quinn. dark. Next
The Pacers face the Utah Jazz at home on Monday at 7 p.m.