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Pacers knock off Pistons at home behind another GRIII bonus

By Scott Stewart

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The Indiana Pacers were victorious in preseason once more winning 101-97, this time at home against the Detroit Pistons behind an added bonus from Glenn Robinson III.

Yesterday in our Pacers preview, I discussed the possibility of seeing a more consistent performance from Paul George, the potential to see Chase Budinger, and the return of George Hill. What was not mentioned was the play of guys like Glenn Robinson III, who has slowly made a decent impact in the Pacers rotation, and bigger than expected.

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The Michigan alum produced 13 points on 5-6 shooting on two full quarters of action and looked confident enough against veterans. It remains to be seen whether GRIII will see these minutes once the season rolls around later this month, but he’s done enough in preseason already to prove that he could provide value to the forward spot.

Oct 13, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers guard George Hill (3) talks to guard Glenn Robinson III (40) during a game against the Detroit Pistons at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana defeats Detroit 101-97. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Despite George Hill’s hair nearly matching the stripe on the side of their shorts (see above. I mean dude, seriously?), it was good to see him back in action though still on limited minutes. Hill was the Pacers second leading scorer and played a good majority of the first half adding 14 points on 5-9 shooting in 20 total minutes.

Paul George was also active and played the whole of the first quarter, and to no one’s surprise, he wasted zero time going at the Pistons defense. When the two teams played each other last week, George had a 20 point quarter on 7-7 shooting. This time? Not much different.

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George took advantage of a smaller matchup this time and added 13 on 4-6 shooting though he would not play past the first quarter. Some questioned the decision to limit his minutes, but it should simply be chalked up to the fact that it’s still the preseason and there’s plenty of ball still to play.

The leading Indiana Pacer last night statistically, though, was Toney Douglass, who had 15 points on 5-14 shooting in 28 total minutes. Douglass led Indiana in both points and minutes and contributed a lot to the second half of the game as the Pacers closed out a late win at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Pacers fans didn’t get to see Joe Young and Solomon Hill (injury) nor CJ Miles (bronchitis), but the team still got it done and improve to 3-1 in the preseason.

It’s another short turnaround for the blue and gold as they travel to Cleveland to take on the Cavs on Thursday, tipoff scheduled for 7 pm ET.

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