It’s the first game of the season and I’ve already nearly had a heart attack.
The Indiana Pacers went up big, then they fell behind, and then they made a final run, but fell short at the end.
Final score, 106-99. The Indiana Pacers are now 0-1 on the season and will get a chance to get back to 1-1 tomorrow night. It will not be easy though, because they’re playing the Memphis Grizzlies, which will put PG’s power forward experiment to the ultimate test, and the Grizz just got their backsides handed to them by Cleveland by 30 points in their own season opening, so I’m sure they’ll be out for blood.
Some good things and bad things for the Pacers in this first game. The first pleasant observation is of course the first proper return to action for Paul George since his leg injury (I don’t count the last six games from last season and this year’s preseason — it’s just different). His shots didn’t fall (4-17 from the field, 0-4 from three-point range), but he still finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals. He looked strong, confident, and was doing all the little things to help his team win. If he keeps growing and improving at this rate he’ll be an absolute beast in a few weeks. There was one play late in the game, with just over a minute to go, when PG drove into the lane, drew heavy contact and still managed to complete the basket off the glass. That wasn’t a shot I think he’d make in the past. Unfortunately, he missed the ensuing free throw that would have tied the game (his only miss on 10 attempts on the night), and the Pacers never recovered after that.
I also liked what I saw from George Hill, who ended up leading the team with 19 points on 6-10 shooting, including 5-7 from beyond the arc. He also added 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block in a solid all-round performance. The blonde hair was a little jarring, but it’s good to see Hill being as assertive as we hoped he would be.
Monta still looks a little timid and unsure of himself out there in his Pacers regular season debut. He finished with 9 points and 6 assists on 3-11 shooting, which is not great, and he hasn’t really put up great numbers in any game in a Pacers uniform thus far. I’m hoping it’s just him trying to find his rhythm because I saw some excellent flashes of brilliance from him at spots throughout the game. His penetration and playmaking abilities really opened things up for his teammates.
I also liked that CJ Miles was not timid and shot the ball whenever he felt like it, finishing with 18 points on 6-14 shooting, including 4-8 from three. Ian Mahinmi surprised me with 10 points, 8 rebounds and a couple of blocks and steals apiece. I read that he was going to get more buckets this season from all the spacing, but to be honest I expected him to be out with 2 fouls in the first five minutes of the game.
As for the bench, Rodney Stuckey was great, taking advantage of his matchup in powering his way to 16 points. Jordan Hill worked hard and finished with 8 points and 8 rebounds, but he looked a little undersized against some of the Raptors bigs out there. That’s where the Pacers look like they will struggle this season — size — and tomorrow night’s game against Memphis will tell us a lot of how they will fare against more physical teams this season.
Chase Budinger had a disappointing debut, missing all four shots for zero points. Joe Young got a couple of minutes only, and Myles Turner didn’t play at all, which was a bit of a shock. I really think Vogel should give him a go. Also surprised that Solomon Hill didn’t see any minutes either.
In all, not too bad of an opening game for the Pacers. The start of the regular season is usually filled with a lot of anomalies as teams try to figure things out on the fly and build chemistry, so I try not to read too much into things.
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