Indiana Pacers: Player grades for 2nd preseason game

The Indiana Pacers lost a tightly contested game to the Cleveland Cavaliers in their second game of preseason action. 

The Indiana Pacers played the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second time in three days last night but lost yet another close contest with the Cleveland Cavaliers 116-106. The Pacers have dropped their second game in a row to the Cavaliers but there were some bright spots in the contest. Here are the grades I gave to some players last night’s contest.

Domantas Sabonis: B+

The Lithuanian Hammer continues where he left off last season by imposing his will inside the paint. Domantas Sabonis finished the game with 18 points, 9 rebounds, and three assists. Sabonis opened the game with a monster first quarter that saw him nearly put up a double-double.

We see the full effect of head coach Nate Bjorkgren’s new system as we saw Sabonis take two three-point shots tonight. Both were missed, but it’s a good sign to see Sabonis willing to extend his range out to the three-point line. We were even blessed to see a little bit of Point Sabonis tonight as well, a trend I hope that continues.

Justin Holiday: B 

Justin Holiday found himself in the starting lineup last night and had a very strong first quarter for the Pacers. Holiday had a sequence where he scored two three-point shots and had a steal in about the span of thirty seconds.

Justin Holiday finished the game with 13 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 31 minutes of action. The Sabonis and shooters lineup played to Justin Holiday’s strengths very well. Keep an eye out for these lineups come the regular season.

Aaron Holiday: B- 

The youngest of the Holiday brothers had a tale of two halves. In his second start of the preseason, Aaron Holiday had a good first half scoring 14 of his 16 points in the first two quarters and added three rebounds and three assists. Holiday did have two bad turnovers but his production made up for it. The second half saw limited production from the third-year pro as he hit two threes in only 12 minutes of action. All in all, it was a solid outing for Aaron Holiday.

Victor Oladipo: C 

One thing was very apparent for Victor Oladipo in last night’s game, the shot has rust on it. Oladipo scored only nine points on 2-of-11 shooting from the field with both field goals being from three-point range. In the past two games, Oladipo has shot 4-for-17 from the field. I toss this up as some rust as it’s very early in the new season.

The positives for Oladipo is that athletically he seems to look fine out on the court. The effort is also there with him as he still plays his butt off on the defensive side of the ball. I fully expect the shooting woes to pass the further we get into the season.

Malcolm Brogdon: C+

This was a very pedestrian game considering what we are used to from Malcolm Brogdon. Brogdon finished the game with 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting, two of his shots being from three-point range. The bright spot for Brogdon in this game came on the defensive end where he tallied two takeaways. I have enjoyed Brogdon’s usage in the new system as it utilizes his three-point shooting ability. I look forward to seeing how Brogdon plays moving forward within the new system.

Edmond Sumner – B

Everyone hold the dang phones because Edmond Sumner is shooting threes now! Now before I get too ahead of myself, he only took three shots from deep and hit one, but the fact that he is taking those shots is a good sign. In a little under 20 minutes of play, Sumner scored 11 points on efficient 4-of-7 shooting. He also added three rebounds and three assists.

Unfortunately, he had the second-worst plus/minus on the team with a negative 20 but I’m chalking that up to the centerless lineups the Pacers were forced to use tonight due to lack of personnel. This biggest takeaway from tonight is that Sumner is shooting threes. If he can develop into somewhat a consistent shooter from behind the arc he could be a valuable weapon coming off the bench for the Pacers.