Friday, February 28, 2014

Pacers feed Hibbert to topple Bucks

The Pacers defeated the visiting Milwaukee Bucks 101-96 Thursday night. The Pacers are now an NBA best 44-13 on the season while the Bucks are a league worst 11-46. The Pacers also improved to an NBA best 28-3 at home.
The Big Plays
The Bucks simply wouldn't go away in this one. The Pacers built the lead to 32-15 early in the second quarter, but the Bucks closed the half with a 12-0 to tie it. The Pacers took the lead for good with an 11-0 run to end the third quarter to make it 73-66.  The Pacers led just 88-85 with 2:02 to go after the Bucks' Brandon Knight had as steal and a layup. But the Pacers scored the next six points on a jumper by Paul George, a jumper by center Roy Hibbert and two free throws by Hibbert to put this one away for good.
The Ups
Roy Hibbert had 24 points and 12 rebounds in Thursday's win.
1) The Bucks have been with center and key shot blocker Larry Sanders, so for once the Pacers took advantage of Hibbert inside as he finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds. It was an overall efficient game for Hibbert as he hit 10 of 16 shots and he also had two blocked shots. It was good to see them continually feed the big guy and it will be interesting to see how things play out down the stretch in the Pacers offense this season. Last year in the later stages, it was clear the Pacers wanted to establish Hibbert as a legitimate offensive threat in the low post and it paid big dividends in the playoffs. That might have even cost them a win or two last year, but it wasn't a big deal as they were basically locked into their seeding. That's not the case this year though, as the Pacers have made it clear since training camp started that they wanted to have the best record in the East so they can get a seventh game at home in the playoffs if needed. So, yes, the Pacers need to make sure Hibbert is confident on offense heading into the playoffs, but they won't be able to do it by sacrificing a win or two along the way.
2) This was not a spectacular game for Paul George, but was certainly one of his more efficient games of the season. George finished with 18 points on 7 of 15 shooting, but his game Thursday was about more than scoring. He also finished with eight rebounds and six assists and maybe the best stat of all just one turnover. There are some games where the Pacers will need George to take over on offense, but there are others where it does the team more good for him to spread the wealth and that was the case Thursday.
The Downs
1) The Pacers have generally defended the three-point line well this season holding opponents to 33 percent shooting, but the Bucks used the long shot to keep themselves in this game and had  themselves within striking distance with two minutes to go. The Bucks hit 12 of 24 from behind the arc, and while a couple of them came in the final minute when the game was decided, the Pacers could have done a better job defending that shot in the game.
2) Another disturbing part of this game was that the Pacers seemingly were in a control two or three times only to allow the Bucks back into. To lose a 17-point lead in one quarter is not really the path to success. And to allow the Bucks to score the final 12 points of the half to tie it was not want you really want to see either. It would have been nice to the see Pacers keep the foot on the gas pedal in the second quarter and push the lead up to 30. Instead, it was the Bucks who did the pushing to keep themselves in the game all night.
Afterthoughts
If there is such a thing as an underwhelming win, this might have been it. When playing the Bucks at home you would hope this would be enough of a blowout game to allow the regulars to rest in the fourth quarter, but instead the Pacers needed a good effort to pull this one out. It's just been a bit of trend lately of building these big leads and watching them slip away. The killer instinct is something the Pacers need to work on in the final quarter of the regular season.
And just in case you're wondering, the Pacers magic number to clinch a playoff spot is four, meaning any combination of Pacers wins and Pistons losses to reach four puts them in. It shouldn't take too much longer for that to happen.
Next Up
The Pacers begin a four-games in five day stretch when the visit the Boston Celtics in an 8 p.m. Saturday game. The Celtics, led by former Butler coach Brad Stevens are 20-39.  The Celtics broke a six-game losing streak with a 115-104 win over Atlanta Wednesday night. The Pacers defeated the Celtics at Boston 97-82 on Nov. 22, then at home 106-79 on Dec. 22. The Celtics are led by Jeff Green at 16.8 points, Avery Bradley at 14.3 points, Jared Sullinger at 13.1 points and 8.3 rebounds, Rajon Rondo at 11.6 points and 8.3 assists and Brandon Bass at 11.1 points. This will be the first game this season that the Pacers will face the Celtics with Rondo expected to be in the lineup.

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