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.

The Indiana Pacers enjoyed massive performances from both Malcolm Brogdon and TJ McConnell

For the first time this season, I simply can’t decide who to give the Game MVP nod to. There’s simply too small of a margin to catapult one over the other.

Coming off impressive performances of their own against the Nuggets, the Indiana Pacers’ point guards took their games up to another level against the Jazz, constantly pressuring Utah in the open floor and stirring the pot for the Pacers to win the battle of mismatches.

Malcolm Brogdon finished with a game-high 30 points, nine rebounds, and four assists on 10 of 23 shooting from the floor. While he failed to connect much from three-point land, sinking just two out of seven tries, Brogdon managed to protect the rock this time, only coughing the ball up once.

On the other hand, TJ McConnell ended with 21 points, eight rebounds, and five assists on a wildly efficient 10 of 14 shooting off the bench, making timely baskets to avert the Jazz’s runs in both halves while playing pesky defense on Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley all night.

At their best, Brogdon and McConnell gives the club a solid two-way one-two punch in the position who can give opposing backcourts nightmares on both ends. If both playmakers continue their level of play so far this season, then the Indiana Pacers will certainly continue their rise in the standings.

Malcolm Brogdon & TJ McConnell: A+

Player grades for the Indiana Pacers starters against the Jazz

Myles Turner: A-

The best defender in the matchup prevailed. Despite finishing with a modest 13 points, Myles Turner corralled nine boards and sunk three big triples in the third quarter as the Indiana Pacers never looked back in the second half. His sweet block on Gobert was the ultimate icing on the cake.

Domantas Sabonis: C+

Domas scored a season-low six points, failing to catch any semblance of rhythm against the reigning DPOY, shooting just two out of 10 from the floor. Even when guarded by smaller players, he failed to capitalize once more, hardly making an impact on offense aside from his five dimes. Still, like the rest of the team, he played good defense.

Chris Duarte: B-

The rookie continued to struggle in the road trip, finishing with just 11 markers on inefficient shooting overall. Aside from his crucial silencer to put the Jazz away for good, Duarte had a subpar performance.

Justin Holiday: B-

Holiday has never been the numbers guy, but his three-point shooting was marginal in this game. His defense on Bojan Bogdanovic, however, deserves a lot of credit, holding the Croatian to just eight points.

Player grades for the Indiana Pacers bench against the Jazz

Kelan Martin: A

With LeVert sidelined, coach Rick Carlisle found a jewel on the bench with Kelan Martin, who registered his best game of the season against the Jazz with 14 points, 11 of which came in the final frame. In addition, he was big on defense against Jordan Clarkson and Joe Ingles, effectively slowing down Utah’s bench catalysts.

Torrey Craig: B-

Torrey didn’t do much that can be shown on the stat sheet in 15 minutes, but he remained frenetic and physical on defense.

Jeremy Lamb: INC

With Indiana favoring Martin for this matchup, Jeremy Lamb barely saw the floor, playing just nine minutes to end up with four points.

Goga Bitadze: B+

It seems dubious to give a B+ to someone who only played six minutes, but the six minutes that Goga played were big ones. His impressive defense before he was benched with four fouls galvanized the Pacers on that end, as the team finished the first half with significant momentum. Goga needs to play more.