Player grades for the Indiana Pacers starters against the Trail Blazers
Domantas Sabonis: C
Domantas Sabonis finished with a modest 15/12/4 stat line and he continued to look uncomfortable adapting to trap-heavy post coverages, failing to capitalize on mismatches and committing six turnovers. His perimeter close-outs were also too lenient to bother Portland’s snipers. Overall, not a good game for the All-Star.
TJ McConnell: A-
19 points AND three triples? That’s far from a conventional TJ McConnell statistical phrase, but with Brogdon out, he was big and actually looked comfortable operating with the starters, shooting eight of 13 overall. Crucial miss, you say? Nah, for the sake of sanity, let’s stop talking about that miss.
Chris Duarte: C
Easily the rookie’s worst game of the season, Chris Duarte finished with single digit in points for the first time in his career. While his measly seven attempts was the primary reason, he was out of position on defense a bunch of times, especially against Norman Powell.
Caris LeVert: C+
It seems like we need to pump the brakes on Caris LeVert a little bit. Shooting just six of 21 from the field, including all misses on his eight tries from behind the arc, he failed to handle the scoring void left by Brogdon. Fortunately, his misses were shots that he normally makes. And he played with good hustle and good defense all night.