Scola's not only got skill, but heart, too

The Pacers continued their perfect start with a 95-79 win over the visiting Memphis Grizzlies Monday night.

The Big Picture
We already know this about the Pacers, but this win was yet another sign of how mature of a team they are. After coming off a nice road victory at Brooklyn Saturday night, there was no let down against the Grizzlies. The Pacers, according to STATS, are the 18th team in NBA history to start a season 8-0. But what was even a bit better about this win is that the Grizzlies were a team that gave the Pacers fits last season, but that didn't come close to happening Monday night as the Pacers led throughout and were never in serious jeopardy of losing the lead after midway through the third quarter.
Likes

Pacers power forward Luis Scola has skills,
but also brings heart and hustle.

1) Yes, I was among those who liked the pick up of power forward Luis Scola. He is obviously a skilled veteran who is a good outside shooter and adept passer for that position. He also does not hurt the team defensively as he doesn't get himself out of position and also keeps himself in position to get rebounds. None of those things are surprises, having seen him play against the Pacers with other teams. But here's the thing I like most about Scola: He also brings hard work and hustle. It was a couple of games ago where he made a steal and went the length of the court for a dunk, a nice play for a big guy. But what was better about it was that he hustled back on defense and picked up his man, rather than lollygagging back and asking for some defensive help from teammates. That hustle was apparent again Monday night, when he regularly beat the Memphis big guys down the court not because he was the fastest among them, but because he simply put out the effort.
2) The second quarter, for once, was a not a bad thing for the Pacers. If these early games are any indication, if the Pacers can actually play a team even in the second quarter, they are in pretty good shape to win. They built a seven-point lead in the first, then played it even at 23-23 in the second, to keep that lead. That allowed for the trend, or maybe now habit, of outscoring their opponents in the third quarter to put the game away. The Pacers won the third quarter 26-16 and now have outscored their opponents by a total of 70 points in the third quarter in these first eight games.
3) Lance Stephenson joined the triple-double club with 13 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds. But given the growth in Stephenson's game and his ability to get the boards and pass the ball, it's no real surprise. He sometimes gets a bit too flashy, but that didn't happen Monday night. As Pacers coach Frank Vogel pointed out after the game, yes the 12 assists were nice, but they also came with just one turnover. That's a big step in the right direction for Stephenson.
4) Reserve center Ian Mahinmi has been late to the party this season. Even though there are not expectations for him to be a big impact player, he had shot just 22 percent coming into Monday night. But Mahinmi scored 10 points, including hit all six of his free throws. A nice boost on a night when starting center Roy Hibbert had just three points.
5) It will always be a bit of mystery on how Memphis center Marc Gasol was the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year last year, but not first team all defense. Hibbert is making his case for both in the early season, and that continued as he had five blocks Monday night.
Dislikes
1) I'm not sure what referee Josh Tiven was looking at when he gave Stephenson a technical apparently for taunting with the ball while Stephenson was starting to make a move. Even the Memphis TV announcers questioned the call.
Afterthoughts
Sometimes it can be easy to take the Pacers rebounding prowess for granted. They out-rebounded Memphis 45-32 Monday night. While some of the national league rankers have the Pacers at the top right now, as well they should, you still get the feeling those same people are thinking something like, good for the Pacers, but let's see how they are playing when it comes time to face the Bulls and the Heat in the playoffs. I get the sense that they are seeing it, but not believing it. Maybe the Pacers aren't flashy enough or something like that, it's hard to tell. But the workman like attitude that Vogel brought to the team the day he was installed as head coach has now reached full fruition. It's not the attention getting, "hey look at us" type of thing, but it's a winning thing. And that's something as a sports fan you can't help but believe in.
Next Up
The Pacers are off until Friday when the host the Milwaukee Bucks. The main danger here is that they will face the Bulls on Saturday night, who are 3-0 at home, so maybe there's the danger of peeking ahead to that game. That's not happened yet with this team, but you know the temptation will be there.