Pacers finally get back on track, win over cold Heat team
By Tony East
The Indiana Pacers finally got a win, their first since Victor Oladipo’s injury.
The Indiana Pacers finally got their first win since Victor Oladipo’s season-ending injury, pulling off a gutsy win in Miami.
I call the win gutsy because the Pacers found a way to get it done despite going on an incredibly cold spell from late in the 3rd quarter to the middle of the 4th quarter. Thankfully, their defense dug in.
They only conceded 11 points in the entire 4th frame (they only scored 11 themselves but they were already winning so it didn’t matter as much). In the second half, the team only gave up 32. It was a sensational defensive performance.
Also, Bojan! Bogey was amazing in this game, dropping his most ever points as a Pacer with 31. Dropping in nearly 1/3 of the team’s points on a night where nobody else sans Darren Collison could get anything going.
He also did this, which I really enjoyed:
When it's your night, it's your night. (This did not count): pic.twitter.com/KP8un80AVe
— Tony East (@TonyREast) February 3, 2019
Bojan is the new offensive leader
Bojan Bogdanovic has had the most, or close to it, shot attempts each game since Oladipo’s injury. Tonight, that was the case again, he took 19.
If he can play like this (13/19 while dominating out of the pick-and-roll) every night, the Pacers can get away with him being a late-clock creator, which is really huge for the squad.
Darren Collison is really stepping up
DC was great in this game, pouring in 20 points and dishing out 6 assists. He was great as a play finisher.
He has now scored 70 points in the 5 games since the Vic injury. He has done a great job stepping up as a scorer and set up man. He has made the most of his time in the high-usage point guard role.
De-fense!
The Heat had 1 player shoot above 50 percent tonight. The Pacers finally played a solid game of perimeter defense, and it really paid dividends for them. Beyond just making the Heat miss a lot, they forced 23 turnovers. The defense was amazing tonight, and that is hopefully something that can translate into future games.
Player and coaching grades:
A. 20 points and 6 assists for DC. 3 turnovers held him back from an A+ here, he was really good tonight.. PG. Indiana Pacers. DARREN COLLISON
C. 4/6/6 for Cory Joseph, who’s shot continues to not fall. He has been easily the best Oladipo replacement in the starting 5, though. He was fine overall.. PG. Indiana Pacers. CORY JOSEPH
A +. Just fantastic all around. 31 points and 7 rebounds on only 19 shots. It was an incredible all-around performance from Bogey.. SF. Indiana Pacers. BOJAN BOGDANOVIC
B +. 11 points and 9 rebounds for Thaddeus Young. Equally great – his matchup, James Johnson, finished with only 2 points. Thad was solid.. PF. Indiana Pacers. THADDEUS YOUNG
B. 14 points and 5 rebounds for Myles Turner, who had a fine game. He also swatted his 500th career block, which was awesome. He is just the 7th Pacer to block 500 shots in an Indiana uniform.. C. Indiana Pacers. MYLES TURNER
C. Indiana Pacers. DOMANTAS SABONIS. C. Domas continues to have a tough time putting the ball through the basket, as he has made just 2 of his last 16. His 1/7 performance tonight was propped up by another fantastic 10 rebound game.
Indiana Pacers. EDMOND SUMNER. C -. Sumner is still trying to find his way in the NBA. He can do some stuff on defense but his offensive game needs a lot of refinement. He finished with 2 points and 2 rebounds in 15 minutes tonight.. SG
C -. Tyreke led the second unit in assists with 4, something that group had been lacking without him. Outside of that, he was terrible, shooting 0/7 and playing just ok on D. He’s recovering from an injury, but that doesn’t mean his play wasn’t lackluster.. SG. Indiana Pacers. TYREKE EVANS
C +. 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 -. 1/5 shooting night from Holiday, who is now 8/36 since re-entering the rotation. Yuck. He will not continue to shoot that bad, but his impact is very limited in the meantime. He also had more turnovers (2) than assists tonight (1).. PG. Indiana Pacers. AARON HOLIDAY
Indiana Pacers. NATE MCMILLAN. B +. Nate nailed the rotation tonight, he gave the young guys a short leash and when they started to fall apart he pulled them for the starters, who secured the win.<p>I mostly liked tonight’s shot distribution. There were a lot of good looks that didn’t fall. Good job by Nate McMillan tonight to set the team up to win.</p>. Head Coach
Breaking down Edmond Sumner’s first NBA start. dark. Next
The Pacers close out their road trip in New Orleans on Monday. Who knows what that team will look like by then with all of the rumors surrounding Anthony Davis.