The Indiana Pacers were ready for a letdown game after an impressive 3-1 road trip out West. But instead, the team seized the opportunity to go over 0.500 for the first time since they started the season 2-1, and defeated the Portland Trailblazers 99-92 to improve to 10-9 for the season including 5-2 at home.
Observations:
– The Pacers gave their fans another scare when they looked like they were going to squander an 18-point 4th quarter lead; it got down to 4 with more than 5 minutes to go before the Pacers got their act together.
– I bag the Pacers bench a lot so tonight they must receive some credit. Psycho-T was huge in the first half with 10 points and Mahinmi took another step forward with a solid 12-points-without-a-miss performance. Gerald Green hit some timely shots. DJ Augustin scored a point.
– Paul George backed up his 34-point performance last night with 22 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Way to go. Now do it again the next game.
– David West continues his beastly ways: 16 points (8-11 shooting), 10 rebounds and one big jumper to keep the Blazers at bay down the stretch. Whenever he takes a mid-range shot it looks and feels like it's gonna be all net.
– Roy Hibbert really showed the Blazers what they missed out on when the Pacers matched their max contract…NOT! Well, kind of. Hibbert had 10 points and 7 rebounds in 29 minutes to go with 3 blocks, but shot just 3-13 from the field. Really ugly misses too. If Roy was on the same contract he was on last year then tonight's performance would have been great. But he's not.
– This Damian Lillard kid from Portland, who led all scorers with 23, is sick. When can the Pacers draft a player like him?
Next up, the Denver Nuggets on Friday night at Bankers Life. I think they're an underrated team and I have a feeling Ty Lawson will have a big one. Hopefully JaVale McGee does something stupid and the Pacers win.
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