In their first road game against the Western Conference, the Indiana Pacers melted down, losing to the Portland Trail Blazers in a close contest. The Blue and Gold squandered a late lead in a game of runs, ultimately collapsing to fall to 3-7 on the season.
Missing Malcolm Brogdon due to non-COVID illness, the Pacers appeared to be headed to a blowout loss after the Blazers kicked things off with a 17-4 run, but they managed to keep the game close all night, even taking a nine-point lead late in the fourth before Portland caught fire from downtown and unleashed an 18-5 run of its own to seal their victory, upping their record to 4-5.
TJ McConnell led Indiana in scoring, finishing with a season-high 19 points, including three surprising three-point makes, the most he’s ever tallied donning the Blue and Gold. Myles Turner added 16 markers, with two of his three triples coming in a crucial stretch in the final period.
Meanwhile, CJ McCollum and Norman Powell combined for 52 points to lead Portland, though it was Robert Covington who put the nail in the coffin for the Pacers with his clutch treys, the last of which as a culmination of a five-point swing that clinched them the victory. Damian Lillard‘s persistent slump continued, with the All-Star guard finishing with only four points, missing all of his tries from downtown.
As the Indiana Pacers make a quick turnaround in the second game of their Western Conference road trip against the Sacramento Kings, here are the player grades from their collapse against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Once again, Myles Turner played top dog on both ends for the Indiana Pacers
I was incredibly tempted to give the top prize to TJ McConnell, who easily recorded his best game this season while filling in for the sick Brogdon, but his costly miss which commenced a brutal five-point swing was too colossal to ignore.
Thus, for the second game in a row, I give the Game MVP nod to Myles Turner, who continued to be a fulcrum on both ends for the Indiana Pacers. While he started off quite stale, managing just six points after three quarters, he went off in the final frame, scoring 10 points off two crucial three-pointers that extended their lead, including a monstrous block. Typical.
However, even when he didn’t score, Turner did a lot of positive things on the floor. with the Blazers aggressively hounding the Pacers on the post, Myles made good reads, kicking it out to open shooter to punish Portland for over-tagging.
With Indiana slated to face some high-octane offensive squads in their road trip, Myles Turner’s sustained two-way play will be crucial for the Pacers to record their first road win of the season and mitigate their disappointing record so far.
Grade: A
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.
Player grades for the Indiana Pacers bench against the Trail Blazers
Justin Holiday: B+
Justin Holiday finished with 12 points in 30 minutes, with all of his four baskets coming from three-point range. The only knack is that he completely cooled off in the second half, scoring zero, zilch, nada. Remaining consistent from downtown will be key.
Torrey Craig: B+
In just 16 minutes, Torrey Craig’s impact was certainly felt. I can almost deduce that all of the 50-50 balls that the Indiana Pacers have won this season are by virtue of Craig’s hustle and endless motor.
Brad Wanamaker: A-
This is not a typographical error. To be honest, this is still quite ungenerous. Brad Wanamaker tallied six impressive assists in just 17 minutes, evidently being the only guard to read Portland’s defense ahead with precision. I hope that there would be some encores to this.
Kelan Martin: B+
Martin was a good provider of energy off the bench. Given an extended run due to the Trail Blazers’ perimeter shooters, Kelan was impactful, playing good defense while cashing in a couple of triples.
Goga Bitadze: INC
Goga barely played, but he didn’t play like he barely played. You know what? Give him more minutes. Insistently. Respectfully.
QUICK NOTE:
The Indiana Pacers probably do not have the right, instinctive personnel for zone defense. Just saying, kinda sourgraping.