As Luka Doncic was excluded from the pre-game due to stiffness in the lower back, this game against a median team from the Eastern conference was instantly much more difficult. Kristaps Porzingis played some of his best games against Indiana, so there was some hope that Dallas could gather enough to bring home victory, but falling from behind the bow meant that the Mavericks’ attack didn’t have the power it needed. It looked like they could make a recovery when they pulled four 84-80 at the start of the room, but from that point on it was all Indiana.
Pacers received contributions up and down in the rotation. Six players scored in double digits and were led by Malcom Brogdon and Domantas Sabonis’ combining 22-point nights. Porzingis showed real effort and won his first double in the first half of his career, with 15 points and 13 rebounds. He finished with 31 and 18 and had a solid defensive game, especially since the Mavs were taking one last chance on Wednesday.
Make or lose the league
While the Pacers combined a high season beyond the arc, making 20 as a team in a 40% clip, the Mavericks were nothing short of horrible. Going 8-35 is not going to work for a team built around being able to outperform the competition, despite an out-of-season attempt to strengthen on the defensive end.
It is a shame that the Mavericks really won the rebound battle and equaled the total Indy kicks made with both teams scoring 38 goals on the ground, but the power of the downtown Pacers prevented this game from being too competitive.
A complete KP showcase
Porzingis led all of the game’s top scorers with 31. This is just one point less than the total of 32 points contributed by the rest of the starters. It was true that in a game without Luka, Kristaps would have to bear much of the attack, but this kind of disparity does not bode well in terms of victory.
In addition to his contributions on the offensive side, Porzingis also played hard on the defense boards. Seven of his 18 rebounds in total were offensive, and he was awarded a great late penalty while Dallas tried to return to the game with his claws. Unfortunately, it was not enough. There are points to choose from about the KP game, but they are generally insignificant compared to how bad a night of shooting was for the rest of the team. Without Luka, the players were simply not getting the quality appearance they need for this team to be a first-rate attack.
Seems like it’s nothing?
Maybe it’s just a case of changing a little of the deep seat rotation and not having JJ Redick with the team yet, but we had an early vision of Josh Green in this game and he played … not bad!
He entered the game in the second half and played well in defense with the kind of energy you expect from youngsters trying to get a few minutes of rotation. He saved a rebound from going out of bounds, almost grabbed a steal and was generally a plague. His bucket with 1 was a cherry on top of his 6-minute output.
He reappeared at the end of the fourth day when the game was out of control and got another e-1 junk time, so that’s +1 skill point for finishing on contact.