The Indiana Pacers started the journey without Victor Oladipo off with a loss in Memphis.
Chris Denari said with about 20 seconds left in the game “Frustrating night here in Memphis” and he couldn’t have been more right. The score margin was close, but this was a frustrating loss for the Indiana Pacers:
The Pacers kept cutting the lead down to 5 or less only to watch the Grizzlies make a run and extend that lead. It felt like no matter what the Pacers did, they could never get the lead.
Indiana had a case of turnover-itis. They had 17 of them, the ball just wouldn’t stay in their hands enough. Some of that is due to an altered rotation. With Victor Oladipo out, Tyreke Evans started and Aaron Holiday played off the bench. The personnel changes throw off the timing of everything ever so slightly. But holistically, a lot of the turnovers were just from sloppy basketball.
The game wasn’t devoid of bright spots. Myles Turner had a nasty dunk to tie the game in the third quarter, Thad Young had a sweet tip dunk to cut the lead to 3 in the 4th quarter, and we saw the Holiday brothers going at each other for a stretch of time:
It's Holiday versus Holiday: pic.twitter.com/Q3WFnRHeuH
— Tony East (@TonyREast) January 27, 2019
Moving on
The first Victor Oladipo-less game presented an opportunity for Tyreke Evans and Aaron Holiday to get a chance. Tyreke Evans shot the ball decently and showed some flashes on D, while Holiday played great D and showed some flashes on O. Give them both more time to mesh with their collective units, and we could see something good.
Frustrating moments
Just when it seemed like the Pacers would get something going, the Grizzlies would assert their will. When the Pacers got the lead down to 4 after a run with about 3:30 to go in the fourth, Mike Conley hit a step-back fadeaway three after a scramble for the ball on the floor. It just felt over after that went in. And that kind of thing happened all night long. The Grizz had quite a few timely success in this one.
More CoJo, Yo
Cory Joseph is the first guard off the bench already. But he played more minutes than Tyreke in this one. That should continue, and Joseph should get more than 24 minutes each night.
He’s versatile, he fits with just about any combination of players the Pacers have, he always supplies energy, and he’s a strong defender. Without Oladipo, the Pacers need that guy out there more.
Player grades:
The Pacers next game is at home versus the Golden State Warriors on Monday. I’m not sure if they are any good or entertaining. Hopefully, it is a fun game.