The Big Plays
The Suns played at an uptempo pace all night and the Pacers could never catch up. The Suns took control in the second quarter and when the Pacers tried to get back into it at the start of the third and fourth quarters, the Suns responded in what turned out to be a blowout. A couple of the big highlights from this game came from ex-Pacer Gerald Green, with his dunk in the first half, then a with a crazy looking scoop shot in the lane in the third quarter where he was also fouled and made the free throw.
The Ups
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| Paul George was mostly the Pacers only bright spot in Wednesday night's loss at Phoenix. |
2) The Pacers love having Luis Scola on the team for good reason. But the trade that sent Miles Plumlee and Green to Phoenix for Scola has worked out quite well for the Suns. Green had a crazy first half with 18 points and finished with 23. He still may be friends with some of the Pacers and that may have given him a bit of extra incentive to play well against them. That kind of thing has happened before and it will happen again. Plumlee had 11 points and seven rebounds, including a key dunk off an offensive rebound in the third quarter. He gives the Suns some much needed muscle inside.
3) I liked the fact that Pacers coach Frank Vogel played the starters for a bit in the fourth quarter even when the outcome was all but decided. The Pacers looked so out of sync for much of this game, that maybe them playing together for a bit would help. Well, at least it seemed like a good idea until Roy Hibbert fouled out with 6:34 to go.
The Downs
1) This was maybe the worst defense the Pacers have played all year. The Suns pretty much did whatever they wanted. The Suns shot 45 of 83 from the field for 54 percent, including hitting 11 of 16 from 3-point range. Part of it was Green being somewhat unconscious from the field, but part of it was Dragic just going wherever he wanted, sometimes taking the shot and sometimes setting up other teammates. It was just a really out of character defensive night for the Pacers, who offered little resistance as they allowed a season high 124 points.
2) Some key Pacers were on the court, but basically missing in action in this one. That included deserving all-star Lance Stephenson and almost certain all-star Hibbert. They combined to shoot 6 for 17 from the floor for 12 points and missed all three of their free throws. The Pacers can win if one of those guys has an off night, but unless it's a night where George goes crazy and scores 40 plus, they're not going to win when Stephenson and Hibbert are off on the same night.
3) Joey Crawford. That's it. Just Joey Crawford.
Afterthoughts
This was one of those games you basically want to forget about. It's not an end of the world situation and is no reason to panic because in a long NBA season these kind of games just come along every now and then. It's just that Pacers losses have been so rare this season, it can cause a bit of alarm when they do actually lose a game. Expect them to come out with a big effort Friday night at Sacramento.
Next Up
The Pacers continue their five-game road trip by traveling to Sacramento to take on the Kings in a 10 p.m. Friday game. The Pacers won the first meeting between the teams last week 116-92. The Kings had come into that game on a three-game winning streak. They are led by DeMarcus Cousins at 23.5 points and 11.5 rebounds a game. They also have recently acquired Rudy Gay at 20 points and point guard Isiah Thomas Jr. at 19.4 points and 6.2 assists. The Kings have a 15-26 record after losing the host Houston Rockets 119-98 Wednesday night.
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