Late Thoughts on the Pacers loss to Utah

What looked to be another blowout from Utah turned into an instant classic, but still a 122-119 loss for the Indiana Pacers in overtime.

Paul George almost did it. Despite a career-high 48 points from all-star on 15-27 shooting, Indiana barely fell and were outlasted by the Utah Jazz in one overtime period.

It was a game of runs that saw the Jazz up as many as 17 on a 14-2 blitz spanning into the first bit of the third quarter. Indiana, though, went one a run of their own and had managed to tie the contest by the beginning of the fourth quarter. After splitting even, 26-26, the two went to overtime where Utah outscored the Pacers, 12-9, to win the game.

The Good
Let’s start with George. Almost the complete and total driver for Indiana, and the reason they were able to stay in this game, he proved immaculate once again. Yes, he was 15-27 overall, but after hitting an incredible 8-11 from long-range and falling just one short of tying his career-high, he should be thrilled with his performance.

Other than George, only Rodney Stuckey managed to hit the 20+ point mark, notching 23 total on 8-14 shooting. Able to provide a set of tough buckets late, Stuckey picked up the slack where guys like C.J. Miles and George Hill couldn’t.

The Bad

Hill had an average game and added 10 points, while C.J. Miles, although he outscored Hill with 12 points, was a cold all night and hit just two of his 10 attempts. Plus, Lavoy Allen and Chase Budinger made just one attempt on four and five attempts and were not able to hit the looks given.

On the defensive threat, Indiana was again unable to stifle Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward, as that pair combined for 57 of the team’s 122 points. Trey Burke was also excellent adding 19 points and Trevor Booker was the last Utah player to reach double figures with 10 points.

Next: Colts Face Steelers on Monday Night Football

In the grand scheme of things, this was just a tough loss that was accentuated by Paul George’s incredibly point tally. However, the Pacers have both today and tomorrow off for rest before hosting the (currently) undefeated Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.