Indiana Pacers: Player grades from thrilling win over the Utah Jazz

The Indiana Pacers caught a big fish in Salt Lake City.

After a dispiriting loss to the shorthanded Nuggets the night before, the Pacers coasted through an upset win over the Utah Jazz on Thursday night, beating the odds on the second night of a back-to-back to even up their Western Conference road trip with a 2-2 slate, moving them to 5-8 on the season.

The Indiana Pacers trumped the Utah Jazz in a spark-filled contest

Indiana, after an up-and-down first half which eventually ended in them building a nine-point lead at halftime, never looked back in the second half despite Utah’s cluster of mini-runs. Missing Caris LeVert once more, Malcolm Brogdon assumed the scoring void, finishing the contest with 30 points to lead the Pacers while TJ McConnell provided game-changing energy off the bench, ending with 21 markers.

What has been the Pacers’ most impressive win this season, however, was far from a stale contest. A scuffle (for the lack of a better word) ensued in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter after Rudy Gobert seemingly attempted to trip Myles Turner, who was getting up after both of them fell to the hardwood as Turner blocked Gobert’s shot.

Both big men were ejected to the game, while Donovan Mitchell, who was irate at Indiana’s bench, and Joe Ingles, who has hard contact with a referee, were also thrown out of the game, effectively closing the window for the Jazz to mount a comeback.

Still, the emotions being high does not discount how Indiana outplayed and outhustled Utah all night despite being on tired legs. While the Jazz shot better from the field, the Pacers badly outrebounded them 53-37 and negated their subpar shooting by cashing in on second-chance opportunities.

With the Indiana Pacer set for a brief return at home to host the Philadelphia 76ers next, here are the player grades from their thrilling road win over the Utah Jazz.