Grades: Pacers succumb to Wizardry, lose to Washington
By Tony East
The Indiana Pacers played horribly and lost to the Washington Wizards.
The Indiana Pacers stunk in their game against the Wizards. There is no other way to shake it. They were bad.
107. 142. Final. 89. 100
That 89 number is the lowest point total the team has had this entire season. It’s lower than the 91 they hung on the Cavs when they were demoralized at home. The game was really rough.
It’s really hard to score without your two best shot creators. With Victor Oladipo and Tyreke Evans out in this one, the Pacers had a really tough time creating a semblance of an offense. When the shot clock was winding down, they had too few options.
On the flip side, Nate McMillan had no answers. He was forced into some tough decisions without any creators, but the solutions he came up with were not great. He tried to get early shot clock looks for the likes of Doug McDermott (who attempts the second most shots on the team) and Bojan Bogdanovic, neither of which who succeeded. Early looks can be an open shot, but they are rarely the best shot. It looked gross.
On the bright side, TJ Leaf did some good stuff:
I let out an audible "ooooo" during this Leaf goodness: pic.twitter.com/GeUuMcSqYh
— Tony East (@TonyREast) January 31, 2019
Let’s start with that to do a positive.
Get used to TJ Leaf contributing
I did not think TJ Leaf had a future in the NBA before this season started. This month he’s had has changed my tune. Not that he has been like SO good or anything, he has just not been bad. He is finding ways here and there to be effective, and tonight was his best career game. I think it’s going to stick.
I need to see something more
Perhaps I should blame myself here, but I had higher expectations for the sans-Oladipo Pacers. The offense looks kinda gross. When their set breaks down, they are out of options and didn’t have the creative to mitigate that problem tonight.
It’s hard to manufacture points without Reke and Vic. But a season-low in points? Come on. Everyone from the coaching staff down has to do better.
Calm down, young kids
I love getting playing time for Edmond Sumner (though I do not think he should be starting) and Aaron Holiday. They need development time, they have promising futures.
They combined for 15 shots. 15. Fifteen! That’s a ton. They made 4. They haven’t earned that many attempts yet. I think fewer would go a long way for both.
Now, player and coaching grades:
DARREN COLLISON. D -. 1/7 shooting, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers. Didn’t do anything to slow down Satoransky. Not a great performance.. PG. Indiana Pacers
EDMOND SUMNER. C -. Brad Beal gave the kid a lesson. Sumner showed off that he has some real skills, but he hasn’t finished plays (2/7) and fouled 3 times VERY early on, which put the Wiz in the bonus really fast. He’ll get better, but he needs a reduced role.. SG. Indiana Pacers
SF. Indiana Pacers. BOJAN BOGDANOVIC. C. I feel bad for Bojan, who is having to do more than his skill set calls for with this new-look team. He’s the best scorer in the starting 5, but he’s limited outside of that, and it’s hard for him to contribute in other ways. With him having to do more, some of his flaws bet exposed.
Indiana Pacers. THADDEUS YOUNG. B. Thad was the best Pacer, tallying 13 points on 8 shots and pairing that with 7 rebounds. His defense on Otto Porter was solid. He just didn’t get an opportunity to play more minutes.. PF
Turner can only do so much when given 9 shots. That number needs to be higher.<p>Turner didn’t record a block for the first time in a while and had 9 points on 9 shots. He didn’t make as much as he could have out of his limited opportunity.</p>. C. Indiana Pacers. MYLES TURNER. C
C. 10/8 for Sabonis, who is having some trouble playing well without a solid pick and roll ball handler to pair him with. He’s still doing okay creating out of the post (3 assists) but its harder with the new roster constraints. His stat line felt better than his performance, which is rare for him.. C. Indiana Pacers. DOMANTAS SABONIS
SG. Indiana Pacers. TYREKE EVANS. -. Remember when Myles Turner was out and everyone realized how important his defense actually was? The same thing is happening with Tyreke Evans and shot creation right now.
D +. CoJo actually fell asleep on defense a few times in this one, which is rare for him. He also went 0/7 with 1 point. 6 assists without a turnover saved his game tonight.. PG. Indiana Pacers. CORY JOSEPH
C -. The Pacers tried to get McDermott going, and 3/7 from 3 is good. But 12 points on 10 shots is just eh, and he had no other counting stats. You know what his defense is. Just an okay game from McBuckets.. SF. Indiana Pacers. DOUG MCDERMOTT
Just garbage time for O’Quinn tonight, who pulled down 2 rebounds in 4 minutes.. C. Indiana Pacers. KYLE O'QUINN. -
B. The defense shooting percentage on the team tonight belonged to the Leafster. 12 points and 3 rebounds is a good game for your backup 4, especially when he’s a sophomore in the league. He was good throughout this game.. PF. Indiana Pacers. TJ LEAF
C -. I am happy any time that Holiday has 0 turnovers. 2/8 is unpleasant, but he got to the line for 4 free throws and hit them all to remain somewhat efficient. He wasn’t generally effective, but he was fine for a rookie.. PG. Indiana Pacers. AARON HOLIDAY
-. Just 2 garbage time minutes for Reed, who was a +5! Woo. 1 rebound and 1 assist too. But not enough playing time to do anything. I bet he stays with the team until Tyreke Evans returns.. SG. Indiana Pacers. DAVON REED
Head Coach. Indiana Pacers. NATE MCMILLAN. D. On one hand, I get it. You have to capitalize on post-ups and a heavy dose on PnR to create any offense without Reke and Vic.<p>But come on. Everyone in the rotation shot between 7 and 10 times sans Bojan. Is that a winning shot distribution? Leaf, Sumner, and Holiday should not get 22 looks. McDermott should get fewer than 10. Give these shots to Myles and Sabonis. Let the guys who have finished efficiently for the last month and a half continue to do so.</p>
dark. Next. Breaking down Edmond Sumner’s first NBA start
The Pacers next game is Thursday in Orlando against the Magic. Back-to-backs are always tough, but the Pacers need to right the ship.