Grades: Pacers defeat Knicks in solid team performance

Is Hicks versus Knicks even a rivalry any more? Not really, because the Indiana Pacers always seem to beat the Knicks.

The Indiana Pacers continued to roll, winning their 7th game in a row against the New York Knicks. There were 11 lead changes throughout the game, but it never really felt close as the Pacers won by double digits.

The Pacers just keep on rolling. This is only their 4th seven-game win streak since Reggie Miller was a member of the team. This has been an incredible run of play for the team, and don’t look now, but it has them up to 2nd place in the Eastern Conference (tied with Milwaukee).

The team looked solid in this one. Everyone who played had at least an okay game, and some guys had really good games (more on that later). With Tyreke Evans out with an injury, it was unknown what the rotation would look like, but Head Coach Nate McMillan put together a solid rotation that allowed the team to play well.

And of course, it wouldn’t be basketball without some awesome plays. Like this double block sequence from Myles Turner:

This might only be a highlight for me, but Domantas Sabonis put in a layup with his right hand, something he rarely does. That is worth highlighting:

So, what happened?

Victor Oladipo is back, Y’all

Victor Oladipo was playing in his first two games back from injury, but he wasn’t really playing if you know what I mean. He did fine, but he wasn’t playing like himself. But tonight, he finally put together a true Oladipo performance.

26 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 steals. He looked like last years All-NBA level player in this game. He was sensational.

Ponytail Myles continues to be great

This was Myles Turner’s fourth game since he started the ponytail look. But this time, he went the Samurai route:

Turner dropped in his third 20 point game since changing his hairdo. Something has clicked for him recently, and he’s become much more effective on the offensive end of the floor. It has been fantastic to watch.

Sabonis finally missed a shot against the Knicks

Remember the first Pacers-Knicks game? When Sabonis went 12/12 and dropped 30 points? Well, it looked like he was headed for another no-miss performance tonight…

And then he missed a shot. After 3 quarters of perfect shooting, he missed in the fourth quarter, his first shooting error against New York all season. The Knicks have to be relieved to finally see a miss.

Individual performances? Let’s talk about them. Let’s do some player grades:

The Pacers next face the Cavs on Tuesday, who they beat earlier in the season. Hopefully, the can get a similar result at home.