Pacers and Paul George repeat performance to beat Celtics
Just like last Wednesday, the Indiana Pacers knocked off the Boston Celtics, this time in Boston, by a 102-91 score led, of course, by Paul George.
It was a pretty good night to a fan of the Indiana Pacers. With their win over Boston, Indiana moves to 5-4 and are above .500 for the first time this season. A quality performance helped by good shooting, the Pacers are steadily finding their rhythm and are looking more and more complete each game.
Injury trouble may be the only thing holding this team down from a complete sequence – last night’s fractured thumb on Myles Turner the case in point. But, when healthy this team has a decent rotation that looked far better than I envisioned when the season started. Thank you to Head Coach Frank Vogel.
The Good
The Pacers shot the ball pretty well last night – 48% on 79 attempts and though their percentages from beyond the arc and from the line were certainly nothing to write home about, the Blue & Gold got the job done on the floor.
Last Wednesday, Paul George tallied 26 points and 10 boards on 8-18 shooting, and last night, George had 26 points and 10 rebounds on 10-22 shooting. Consistency. George is looking better and better each night and though my worries remain about not supporting him with enough talent, Indiana is clawing themselves into the right place.
Indiana also came away with nine steals to match their season average and keep them in the top six in that category.
The Bad
Well, 3pt shooting is not the forte this season, but the performance from the line was inexcusable (20-31 – 64%). The Pacers fluctuation from the charity strike this season is trend, some nights are hot were as others are winter cold, and last night was no different.
The Blue & Gold did a pretty decent job on Isaiah Thomas last night (which is good), but oddly enough failed to contain Evan Turner, who had 20 points on 9-13 shooting. I made the argument that it’s unfair for Boston to get “good” Evan Turner when we got such a terrible version, but I digress.
Finally, the Pacers are still turning the ball over far too often – 19 last night – and while I expect that number to get smaller in due time, it’s still a bit inflated for the first 10 games of the season.
Next: Purdue football continues to lose recruits
Another day’s rest for Indiana as they travel home from Boston, but then the Pacers host the Minnesota Timberwolves tomorrow night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, tipoff set for 7 pm ET.