2 Studs, 1 dud from Indiana Pacers' high-scoring win over Atlanta Hawks
By Jack Simone
Dud - TJ McConnell
On a night where scoring was through the roof, it was a bit tough to pick a dud. Everyone’s box score numbers were through the roof, but on the court, not everyone was amazing.
Box score stats are obviously not everything, but when looking at duds, it’s commonly the players who turned the ball over too much, had a rough shooting night, or failed to meet expectations.
Against the Atlanta Hawks, we’ll roll with TJ McConnell as the dud, which is a bit odd, especially considering he only played 13:46 in a game where seven others played significantly more minutes.
Unfortunately for McConnell, his brief time on the court was met with much backlash on social media, as he didn’t really bring much.
McConnell ended the game with two points and four assists while shooting 1-of-5 from the floor. And on top of that, he was a -4, which was the third-worst mark on the team.
Fans on social media talked about his apparent unwillingness to pass to Tyrese Haliburton and hesitancy to shoot open threes. But that’s just not his game.
The 31-year-old is a well-respected veteran, and this was nothing more than just an off night. And it makes sense because the pace in this game was crazy, and McConnell often prefers to slow things down a bit and run the offense. He’ll be fine.