Player grades for Indiana Pacers after big win against the Mavericks

The Indiana Pacers came into Tuesday night's matchup against the Dallas Mavericks having lost three of their past four games. In their last game against the Spurs, they weren't able to generate enough offense in the second half to get the job done.

That wasn't a problem in Dallas. The Pacers had 74 points in the first half and outscored Dallas 32-18 in the third quarter. They shot 60% in the first half and made eight three-pointers too en route to a 137-120 victory. Here are some player grades for each Pacer player that saw some action, starting with the starters.

Tyrese Haliburton: A

Tyrese Haliburton has been struggling recently. He came into Dallas 0-13 from three in the last two games. He wasn't driving to the hoop for some reason. While he still was just 2-8 from three, he drove to the basket a lot more and scored 16 points. He also had 11 assists, a few of which came from drives to the hoop.

Andrew Nembhard: B+

Nembhard only took four shots in this game but he made every one of them to score 10 points. He played some solid defense on Luka Doncic and Josh Green and he added 5 assists. Nembhard is really starting to shoot it well from deep and was 2-2 from beyond the arc.

Aaron Nesmith: B-

Nesmith had the unenviable task of guarding Doncic for most of the evening. He had three fouls in the first half and Doncic scored 39 points. Nesmith was just 1-3 from the field and played just 22 minutes in the game. He's clearly still trying to get his rhythm back.

Pascal Siakam: A-

While his shooting percentage wasn't great, he shot just 5-11, Pascal Siakam grabbed 13 rebounds and contributed 6 assists. He still had 13 points so it's not like he wasn't a factor scoring-wise. Just another solid game from the starting power forward.

Myles Turner: A

Turner had 20 points against his hometown team, with all of them coming in the first half. He seems to play his best against Dallas for whatever reason. The pick and roll game with Haliburton was quite an effective source of offense for the Pacers in the first half and that opened things up for everyone else in the second half.

T.J. McConnell: A

While he didn't score 26 points like he did against the Spurs, McConnell was still extremely effective on Tuesday night. He had 13 points, 7 assists, and went 2-2 from three. He just brings the energy every night and is such a valuable member of the bench unit.

Obi Toppin: A

Obi Toppin shot 5-6 from the field for 14 points in just 16 minutes. He was effective in a small sample size and hit 2-3 from deep. Just another solid game from a guy who was moved to the bench following the Siakam trade. Toppin doesn't complain, he just produces.

Jalen Smith B

Smith was probably the worst player off the bench in this one. 4-7 shooting for 11 points isn't bad, but he missed three free throws and got beat for lobs multiple times on the Doncic/Gafford pick-and-roll. Still, not a bad game for Stix.

Bennedict Mathurin: A

Mathurin was the leading scorer off the bench, putting in 19 points on 7-16 shooting. HIs ability to make tough shots when the shot clock gets low is extremely valuable to this team. He's the only player off the bench who can create his shot besides McConnell.

Ben Sheppard: A+

Ben Sheppard gets the best grade of the night because of how much the Pacers ask of him as a rookie, and yet he still delivers. Sheppard was 4-6 from three for all of his 12 points. He also grabbed 6 rebounds and played his usual great defense. Sheppard is one of the most important players for the Indiana Pacers down the stretch of the season.

It was nice to see the Pacers get a win. They will try to get a winning streak going when they take on the Timberwolves on Thursday.