Indiana Pacers end Basketball Day 2019 with win over Dallas Mavericks
Today was the third annual Basketball Day in the Hoosier State, and the Indiana Pacers were able to cap off the festivities with a victory over the visiting Dallas Mavericks.
On a day where the entire state of Indiana was celebrating the game of basketball, thousands of faithful Pacers fans braved the winter storm to watch the Hickory Pacers send Dallas packing with a very nice double-digit victory. After Indiana broke open a nice lead in the second quarter, the Indiana Pacers never looked back in this one and kept the lead for the entire second half of competition.
99. 79. 111. 100. Final
Pacers Have a Stroke of Good Luk(a)
Dallas’ rookie phenom, Luka Doncic, played his first game ever in Bankers Life Fieldhouse tonight, and it was an experience he’ll likely want to soon forget. The budding Slovenian star was the player most likely to hurt the Pacers tonight, but he struggled mightily shooting the ball against some staunch defense. Ultimately, he wound up getting kicked out of the game after he picked up a second technical for punting the basketball into the stands in a moment of frustration. Luka will likely have big games in BLF in the future, but the Pacers did well to make sure his Indiana debut was not one of them.
It’s a Game of Runs
The Pacers, once again, got out to a slow start in this one. After an opening quarter in which the offense did not look good at all, the second unit was able to go on a very important run in the second quarter, where they turned a 1 point lead after one quarter into a 16 point lead by halftime. This quarter wound up being what won the game for Indiana, as the Mavericks were actually a +4 in the second half.
Make More Shots, Win the Game
Across the board in this one, the stats between the Pacers and Mavericks were strangely similar in almost every area. That is, aside from overall shooting percentage. The Pacers didn’t use a major advantage on the boards, or on turnovers, or anything else to pull away in this one. Tonight, it was as simple as putting the ball in the hoop more often than the Mavs. Credit to Indiana’s defense holding Dallas under 100 points.
Player Grades? Don’t mind if I do:
Indiana Pacers. DARREN COLLISON. B+. DC played the fewest minutes of all the starters tonight, but he made good use of his chances. He set the tone for Doncic’s frustrating night early on when he had an impressive strip on a drive Luka took to the rim in the first quarter. His mid-range jumper was working, and he made a couple of threes. An aggressive second half led to an 11 point 3rd quarter for the vet.. PG
B-. Look, we know Vic’s shot has looked flat since coming back from injury. It’s mildly concerning, but he’s being helpful in other ways in the meantime. 8 boards, 6 assists, and 3 steals are great contributions despite the poor shooting percentage. A few of his assists were very pretty.. SG. Indiana Pacers. VICTOR OLADIPO
Indiana Pacers. BOJAN BOGDANOVIC. D+. Not a great contest for Bogey, who has been struggling to hit from deep lately and went 0-4 tonight. He was a perfect 5 for 5 from the line, but his field goals just would not drop. He added some value on the glass, but this is not the “for sure Indiana’s best second option” we saw when Vic was injured. Look for Bogey to bounce back from this one tomorrow.. SF
Indiana Pacers. THADDEUS YOUNG. C. Some strong moves in the post and the ability to always hit the open man on fast breaks kept Thad useful in this one. His offense wasn’t working like it was against the Sixers last game, but a solid night nonetheless, despite being a team-low -6 on the night plus/minus wise.. PF
C. Indiana Pacers. MYLES TURNER. B+. Myles might have been the final straw for Luka’s frustrations when he blocked the daylights out of him in the third quarter. Myles added two more blocks on top of that one and shot a healthy 50% percent from the field on his way to 12 points. He continues to affect shots inside the paint all the time, and while DeAndre Jordan was able to bully him now and then, Myles held his own well for the most part.
A. A great game from Lithuania’s favorite export. Strong post moves galore, another double-double (though he only had 2 boards in the second half), offensive boards leading to tip-ins and putbacks, GREAT passing despite only winding up with 2 assists, and solid defense on DeAndre Jordan. Domas was huge in this one.. C. Indiana Pacers. DOMANTAS SABONIS
SG. Indiana Pacers. TYREKE EVANS. A. This is precisely the version of Tyreke we need. Evans led the team in scoring tonight and was very good close to the rim, which is an area in which he’s struggled for most of the season. This is now 5 straight games in double figures for the streaky shooting guard. Keep streaking, Reke.
PG. Indiana Pacers. CORY JOSEPH. B+. Cory was bad from range and went 1-2 on his patented weird floaters he’s been throwing up recently, but he was his typical, super valuable self everywhere else. A +18 plus/minus is awesome, and he stuffed the stat sheet in some other areas, too. No turnovers are always fantastic for a point guard as well.
Indiana Pacers. DOUG MCDERMOTT. B-. Doug had a terrible first half but really turned it on after that. All 9 of his points came down the stretch in the fourth quarter, and a few of those points came on some very nice cuts to the hoop. Keep shooting, Douglas.. SF
Garbage time for KOQ. He hit his only shot he took.. C. Indiana Pacers. KYLE O'QUINN. G
TJ LEAF. G. Garbage time for TJ as well, but he was able to pick up a very nice assist to O’Quinn during his two minutes on the court.. PF. Indiana Pacers
G. More garbage time for Holiday, who is going to have an even tougher time picking up meaningful minutes for the rest of the season if Tyreke keeps scoring like this. We still love you, Aaron.. PG. Indiana Pacers. AARON HOLIDAY
Garbage-Man #4 tonight. Basically, nothing happened for Alize in his two minutes, good or bad. Still just nice to see him on the court, though.. PF. Indiana Pacers. ALIZE JOHNSON. G
Next. Pacers trade deadline primer. dark
The Pacers might as well camp out in the locker room tonight. They face the Charlotte Hornets at Bankers Life Fieldhouse tomorrow night at 6:00 PM.