The Indiana Pacers put together their most complete team performance of the season and smashed the Utah Jazz.
Fans of the Indiana Pacers were worried about how the team would play without Victor Oladipo. Thankfully, the team put those worries to rest by completely dominating the Utah Jazz.
It wasn’t just that they dominated. It’s that they had highlight:
After highlight:
This is the type of performance that makes you realize that the Pacers can beat anybody when they are at their best. They looked incredible:
Indiana Pacers
121
Utah Jazz
94Good passing leads to good performances
The Pacers dominated this game from end to end, and without Victor Oladipo, they had to do it with ball movement. Domantas Sabonis said after the game that the team stressed getting 25 assists in every game when they were working on sharing the ball in training camp.
In this game, the Pacers smashed that number. They had 35 assists, and everybody who played besides TJ Leaf and Davon Reed got at least one. Sabonis himself led the way with nine of them, and he was close to a triple-double.
Aaron Holiday looks very good for a rookie
Remember when my dumb butt thought that Aaron Holiday wouldn’t be all that special? Let’s pretend that never happened…
In all seriousness, these last two games have been incredible for Holiday. After a great performance on Saturday, nobody really knew if it was a flash in the pan or if Holiday was actually solid. Tonight, he proved it was the latter. He was incredible, with 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 assist on 7/10 shooting. This kid is great. It’s going to be awesome to watch him develop.
Welcome to the Pacers, Davon Reed!
This isn’t really an observation, but it is always exciting when dudes make their Pacer debut. Tonight, that happened for Davon Reed. Some are really high on his skills, so keep an eye on his season for both the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and the Pacers.
9 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists for DC, who had an impact in all areas of the game. He didn’t have a single turnover, either. He was solid tonight.
Get well soon, superstar!
With Oladipo out, it was important that Bojan Bogdanovic took over since he is the Pacers second highest scorer. He did just that with 21 points on 9/14 shooting.
I am Thads biggest fan. 6/10 shooting, great defense on Derrick Favors (who shot 2/6), and active all over the court. It is a joy watching him wreak havoc on the opposing team while also having a good offensive game. A great Thad game.
I enjoy watching Domantas Sabonis hunt for a triple-double late in the fourth quarter. He deserved the chance to get it, he played outstanding. 7/9 from the field, 19 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists. One hell of a game from the Lithuanian big.
Tyreke Evans was… underwhelming? I guess. It was his first start with the team and he was playing a whole new role, so it makes some sense. 8 points aren’t great, but 5 assists are. Just an average overall game from Reke.
Typical CoJo game. Great defense, solid ball-handling, a few too many dribbles and mid-range shots, and a canned three-pointer. 7/4/4 with that level of defense is an effective game.
Two minutes of O’Quinn? Yes, please! He grabbed two rebounds and dished out two assists in that short time. KOQ gonna KOQ.
*yes it is. Duh. But Holiday was awesome. 19/7/1 and no turnovers. Simply terrific stuff.
Leaf seems to be out of the rotation, but it is good to see him get a little bit of playing time. 2 points and one offensive rebound was a productive run for Leaf.
Welcome to the Pacers, kid. Congrats on the team debut. Unfortunately, no counting stats. But he only got 1 minute of playing time.
The Pacers will try to keep it rolling on Wednesday against the red-hot Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Hornets.