Pacers blow it in the third quarter, lose in OKC
By Tony East
The Indiana Pacers played in 3 of the 4 quarters. Unfortunately, they were horrible in the other 1 and blew it in OKC.
If you combine just the 1st, 2nd, and 4th quarters of tonight’s basketball game, the Indiana Pacers scored 84 points and conceded 76. That’s great!
In the 3rd quarter, the Thunder dominated and outscored Indy 31-15. Ballgame.
Final. 107. 149. 99. 100
That disastrous 3rd quarter was highlighted by a 24-0 Thunder run. Twenty Four to Zero. That’s the longest run in the NBA this season.
The Pacers missed 14 shots in a row during this run. Meanwhile, the Thunder made 9/15, including 4/6 from deep. Everything went right for one team and wrong for the other. It was the difference in the result.
The @okcthunder had a 24-0 run against the Pacers in the 3rd quarter.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 28, 2019
It's the most consecutive unanswered points scored by a team this season and the biggest run for the Thunder since Dec. 23, 2015 against the Lakers (25-0).
h/t @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/ozUqNbfAbN
So, let’s talk about the guards. Darren Collison, Cory Joseph, Wesley Matthews, and Tyreke Evans were a combined…
10/38. 26.4%. Most frontcourt players were up to the task of winning this game. The backcourt was not. They couldn’t hit a thing and it cost the team.
Turd quarters
The Pacers have a net rating of -21.5 in third quarters in the month of March, the worst in the NBA by over 4 points per 100 possessions.
Their effective field goal percentage in these quarters is 47.3%, the worst in the league in that span. Shots need to go in. Things are bad.
Free throw woes
The Pacers were 6/11 from the free throw line.
54.5% is bad. It has to be better than that if you want to win a basketball game, especially on the road. But only 11 attempts is also not going to cut it. They had this problem earlier in the season, but they were able to beat the Thunder the first time thanks to 32 attempts. They couldn’t get it done in that way in this game.
That’s a wrap on the West
That was the Pacers final game against the Western Conference. They finished 15-15 against the group of teams that is largely considered to be better. That’s not great and not bad. It’s fine.
Next year, with Oladipo back, it will be better.
Player grades:
Indiana Pacers. DARREN COLLISON. D +. DC returned from injury and… struggled. 3/10 with 3 turnovers. A very uncharacteristic game from him, and Russ stole his lunch money.. PG
D. 4/15 shooting. Matthews was not effective at all in this one. PG had no problem scoring on him.. SG. Indiana Pacers. WESLEY MATTHEWS
BOJAN BOGDANOVIC. A -. The quietest 28 points I have ever seen. Bojan was quality on offense and was getting it done in the 4th when nobody else was.. SF. Indiana Pacers
B. I feel bad for Thad. The gameplan was for him to leave Jerami Grant open on 3s, and Grant was hitting them so it hurt Thad’s effectiveness. But Young was fine overall.. PF. Indiana Pacers. THADDEUS YOUNG
A -. Turner hit 5/9 shots and looked uber aggressive on the glass, pulling down 14 rebounds. 4 blocks, too. He was good.. C. Indiana Pacers. MYLES TURNER
Like Turner, Sabonis was also good. 8/13 shooting and 10 rebounds. Also, no fouls or turnovers. Domas was great, as usual.. C. Indiana Pacers. DOMANTAS SABONIS. A
Indiana Pacers. CORY JOSEPH. D. CoJo is beyond a slump. He can’t make a thing. His defense can only make up for so much when he misses almost everything every game. Joseph was 0/4 in this one.. PG
B. 5 points. Hit his only 3. The team was a +10 with him on the floor, which was the best of any Pacer. He was fine, but his role felt reduced.. SF. Indiana Pacers. DOUG MCDERMOTT
C. Reke was distributing, but his shot wasn’t falling. He finished with 7 points and 5 assists. He felt more effective than his final stat line showed.. SG. Indiana Pacers. TYREKE EVANS
Indiana Pacers. NATE MCMILLAN. C. Couldn’t stop the bleeding for 7 minutes and a 24-0 run.. Head Coach
Next. Aaron Holiday is getting back into his groove. dark
The Pacers play a massively important game on Friday against the Boston Celtics in Boston. It could have massive implications on the final standings in the East.