Hill more than a threat in this win over Nets

The Pacers defeated the Brooklyn Nets for the second straight game, this one in Indianapolis, by a 105-91 score Saturday night. The Pacers improved to 24-5 while the the Nets fell to 10-19.

The Big Plays

The Pacers led by two at the half and then outscored the nets 14-5 to start the third quarter and were in control the rest of the way. Paul George also had a four-point play late in the second quarter that broke at 47-47 tie. While the Nets did comeback to tie it at 56-56 before Lance Stephenson hit two free throws with seven seconds left in the first half, the Pacers never trailed again. The Nets were certainly more game this time than they played the Pacers Monday, but the Pacers scored over 100 points for the the fourth straight game, which makes one of the league's top defensive teams tough to beat when it reaches the century mark.

The Ups

Pacers guard George Hill scored 21 points
and did not have a turnover in Saturday's win.

1) Pacers point guard George Hill had his best game in over a month by scoring 21 points with four assists and three rebounds and no turnovers. Hill had not scored more than 13 points in a game since Nov. 25 when he scored 26 against Minnesota. The Pacers don't need Hill to be a big scorer every night, but they do need him to be a legitimate threat and to not turn the ball over. There's been some talk on whether Hill is a good enough point guard for the Pacers to win a championship. Given the balance this team has, I think he is, but there's no question they do need him to play better more consistently.
2) It's become a regular thing here, but Lance Stephenson continued his stellar play and he has now become a player the Pacers can count on to deliver. He finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. But what I liked about this game is that when Stephenson returned to the floor with about five minutes to go in the fourth quarter, he didn't force the whole triple-double issue, even though the the sellout crowd was understandably hoping he would get it. But it seems Stephenson gets it now, gets that he's a better player when he plays under control and gets that the team is more important than his individual stats.

3) While the bench is better now that Danny Granger has returned, one player who has stepped up defensively in recent games is backup center Ian Mahinmi. This is not about getting more blocked shots. It's about the fact that Mahinmi is starting to understand the defensive rotations and react appropriately. There was a play early in the fourth quarter where Mahinmi was defending on the high post and noticed a Nets play developing into a back door play. Mahinmi noticed what was happening and left his man to go defend on the play. He doesn't have to be scorer with the second unit the way it is now, but they do need him to defend every night.

The Downs

1) The Pacers defense was definitely a little off in the first half. It was probably due to a combination of things. One, is that they were playing the Nets for the second straight game and they had beaten the Nets handily in Brooklyn and the Nets didn't want to get embarrassed again. And two, the Pacers were coming off a five-day break and while the offense looked good for most of the night, the defensive rotations just weren't what they had been in the previous three games. But they did recover and allowed the Nets just 40 points in the second half.
2) Pacers big men David West and Roy Hibbert combined for 10 of the team's 17 turnovers Saturday night. Teams may try to double team them more often now, like the Nets did Hibbert Saturday, so they will have to be ready to make that extra pass and understand just exactly where it needs to go. And that will also depend not just on West and Hibbert being willing to make the pass, but teammates being set up in the right places to receive those passes to swing the ball to the open man.

3) The Nets are a frustrated team. On Monday, it was Paul Pierce getting a Flagrant 2 foul and ejected for a hard foul on Hill. And then at the end of Saturday's game there was Reggie Evans taking a cheap shot at Pacers center Roy Hibbert. We get it if you're a frustrated with the season Nets, but that's no excuse to take cheap shots at teams that are better than you.

Afterthoughts

Since their defeat at Miami last week, the Pacers have now won by margins of 33, 27, 17 and 14 points. There's just hasn't been any late-game drama, and really, when the Pacers are playing in the Easteren Conference, and unless they are playing the Heat or having an uncharacteriscally bad game, it's going to be that way most nights. It's a credit to how good the Pacers are and nobody should blame them for that.

Next Up

The Pacers play again in a 3 p.m. New Year's Eve game Tuesday against the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers, who are 10-19. The Cavaliers are led by guard Kyrie Irving at just over 22 points and six assists per game. The Cavs also have guard Dion Waiters at just over 15 points and power forward Tristan Thompson at 12 points and just under 10 rebounds per game. The Cavaliers are also in a bit of disarray as they have suspended center Andrew Bynum and are reportedly looking to trade him now. But you have to wonder how much they will get in return for a player they clearly don't want on their team.