Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Turner gets off to fast start in Pacers win

The Pacers defeated the visiting Los Angles Lakers Tuesday night 118-98. The Pacers are now an NBA best 43-13 while the Lakers are 19-38. The Pacers are now 27-3 at home, also an NBA best mark.
The Big Plays
This game was still a bit interesting midway through the third quarter with the Pacers up just 68-61 when Paul George made one of his circus shots that ended up being a lefthanded reverse layup as he got fouled at the 5:44 mark. The made free throw put the Pacers up 10, and while the Lakers countered with a 3-pointer on their next possession, George countered with his own 3-pointer on the Pacers next possession and it was never closer than eight points after that.
The Ups
1) Maybe it was coincidence and maybe not. But in the debut of newly acquired Evan Turner, the Pacers bench scored a season-high 50 points. Turner finished with 13 points on 6 of 12 shooting. And while the numbers are nice, the more important thing is that Turner seemed to fit right in with the Pacers first and second units. He instantly gives them a more athletic player off the bench and it also takes a lot of pressure off of Lance Stephenson, you usually is in with the second group, to be the primary offensive creator when he's out there. So the early grade in this trade is big thumbs up.
Evan Turner scored 13 points in his debut for the Pacers.
2) The third quarter has been one of the Pacers' best this season, but not so much recently. But that returned in this game as they shot nearly 55 percent in the quarter while outscoring the Lakers 34-16. And another common theme in that quarter has been George scoring in double figures, and he did it again Tuesday night, with 12 points and leading that key run that put the Pacers in control of this one for good.
3) I liked that point guard George Hill put some pressure on the Lakers defense early in the game, scoring nine points in the opening minutes. It put them on alert that if the Lakers wanted to ignore him they would have to pay a price. Hill's offensive production has been sporadic this season, so it was good to see him assert himself on that end.
The Downs
The one thing that was a bit of an issue in this game were the fast break points allowed by the Pacers with 17. Yes, a couple of those baskets did come after the outcome was decided and yes, the with Lakers being led by coach Mike D'Antoni, who always wants his team to push the pace, that's not unexpected. But the point here is that the Pacers need to establish the habit of stopping the fast breaks because assuming they play the Heat in the playoffs, they love to get out and run whenever possible.
Afterthoughts
In the midst of this stretch of seven games against sub-.500 opponents, the Pacers are now 3-1. They pretty much have to finish this stretch at 6-1 and it was good to see them win this game in easy fashion. Just how much Turner will help remains to be seen, but one of my favorite plays he made was when he was at the top of the key, drew the defense to him and hit C.J. Watson in the corner for a wide open 3-pointer. That's the kind of plays they will need him to make coming down the stretch.
Next Up
The Pacers play host to the Milwaukee Bucks, who they just defeated on Saturday in Milwaukee 110-100. The Pacers also defeated the Bucks 104-77 back on Nov. 14. The Bucks did win their last game at Philadelphia Monday night, 130-110 and are now an NBA worst 11-45 on the season. Milwaukee is led by guard Brandon Knight at 17 points and five assists per game, O.J. Mayo at 12 points, John Henson at 12 points and eight rebounds, Khris Middleton at 11.5 points and forwards Caron Butler and Ersan Illyasova and guard Gary Neal each at 10 points. The Bucks also have exciting 19-year-old rookie forward Giannis Antetokunmpo at seven points a game. The Bucks are scoring 93.3 points per game, while allowed just over 102.

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