1-3 is so much better than 0-4.
The Indiana Pacers finally won their first game of the 2015-2016 season, and it came with a 94-82 road victory over the previously unbeaten Detroit Pistons.
It wasn’t pretty — the Pacers shot 43%, had 15 turnovers, gave up 29 rebounds to Andre Drummond and only scored 9 points in the 4th quarter — but they found a way to pull out the win thanks to a 22-point run in the second quarter.
Rodney Stuckey was most responsible for sticking it to his former team, putting up 23 points in 26 minutes on 9-14 shooting.
Monta Ellis was much more aggressive tonight and finished with a Pacers career-high 15 points on 7-16 shots. Still not where he needs to be but getting closer.
Likewise for Paul George, who continued to struggle with his shot en route to 16 points on 5-17 shooting, but he did a bit of everything else by contributing with 9 rebounds an 6 assists, plus a pair of steals (though it felt like he had 8 or 9 steals — I guess most were just deflections).
George Hill has been the most reliable Pacer thus far this season and he finished with 12 points on 5-12 shooting to go with 6 boards and 6 assists. He was one of the main reasons the Pacers went on that run, and if there is going to be a Pacer All-Star this season he gets my vote.
CJ Miles had another stinker with 2-9 shooting for 8 points, and Chase Budinger was even worse, going scoreless again without taking a shot in 10 minutes.
Jordan Hill had 10 and hustled well tonight, and Myles Turner was again impressive, hitting his long range jumpers for 6 points (3-4 shooting), grabbing 4 boards and swatting away 3 shots in just 15 minutes. This guy seems destined to be a star.
On the other end of the spectrum, Lavoy Allen. Dude just can’t hit his open jumpers, and that’s what he needs to do to stay in the game. He was 2-7 for 4 points, though to be fair he did have 6 rebounds (3 offensive), 2 assists and a block. My guess is his minutes will gradually shift to Turner as the season progresses.
Solomon Hill, Joe Young and Glenn Robinson III didn’t get minutes tonight and appear to be the injury insurance guys. If Budinger continues to struggle as he has I wouldn’t mind seeing them get some of his minutes though.
Anyway, breathe a sigh of relief, Pacers fans. As gloomy as the season looked just a couple of days ago, things are suddenly looking a lot brighter.
Tough game tomorrow night against the Boston Celtics at home in the second game of a back-to-back. The Pacers looked winded out there in the final quarter tonight so let’s hope they have enough energy to get a much-needed W.
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