Fans arrived at Bankers Life Fieldhouse Thursday with mixed feelings, a combination of questions and eagerness for the new season.
Best of all: Paul George is back. That’s great for the entire league.
Hosting the Memphis Grizzlies to town for the only time this season, Pacers head coach Frank Vogel sent out a bigger starting lineup to match the Grizzlies, who are one of the rare teams to still start two traditional big men. Jordan Hill, a solid backup, started at power forward … moving George back to his natural three spot and bringing C.J. Miles, who tallied 18 points, off the bench.
There were flashes of quality play throughout the night, and just as many head-scratching series of plays. Like in the second half when they turned the ball over on four consecutive possessions. By game’s end, they coughed it over 20 times leading to 18 points for the visitors.
Completing their first of 17 sets of back-to-back games on the season, the Pacers again struggled in the final frame. They gave up 39 points and were outscored by 11 as the Grizzlies earned their first win of the year, 112-103.
“We’ve got to play better basketball,” Vogel said afterwards. “But we’ve got a good team. I’m confident in what we are and what we can be. We knew this would be a tough couple of games.”
Whenever the Grizzlies come to town, it’s always notable because 1) the Pacers used to have a very similar make-up, and 2) they have three Indiana guys: Mike Conley, Courtney Lee, and Zach Randolph. All three reached double figures — 13, 10, and 11, respectively — and played key roles in the Memphis win.
While Paul George may not be 100 percent, the two-time All-Star has yet to look himself. He hasn’t quite gotten into a rhythm through two games despite an outstanding preseason showing. Shots are rushed. The officials have gotten to him (two technicals in two games). And he’s faced two outstanding defenders, DeMarre Carroll and then tonight, Tony Allen (FIRST TEAM ALL-DEFENSE!!!)
George managed to score 18 points, with six coming at the line. In the first two games, PG is 9-of-32 and 2-for-12 from outside.
It’s just two games. Don’t read too much into it. Well, except for his yapping to the officials. Leaders have to lead, and there’s a number of youngsters on the team watching.
“We’re still trying to all get tied together,” George said. “The lineups haven’t been consistent so we’re still trying to work through things. It’s an adjustment, it’s a process.”
Starting center Ian Mahinmi’s offseason work is paying dividends as he once again flirted with a double-double: 11 points and nine rebounds. He wasn’t hesitant to fire up a 15-footer, which he made, and he handled his own for much of the contest.
Still, especially when he’s out, the Pacers lacked a true rim defender. The Grizzlies owned the Pacers inside, outscoring them in the lane 48-26. That’s not like the Pacers, who were a top-three team in the paint last season.
Newcomer Monta Ellis, like Paul George, is also off to a slow start. Just nine points for Ellis on 3-of-12 shooting — and three assists to four turnovers. But it’s not a cause for concern. Two games in, remember?
“Those guys are proven offensive weapons,” Vogel said of George and Ellis. “They haven’t gotten it going yet but they will.”
Again, this is a team still looking to discover it’s identity and build chemistry together.
“I think we’ve got to establish an identity and we’ve yet to do so. We knew this wasn’t going to be easy, we knew it was going to be an adjustment. We’re not that far out. We’ve got a lot of things to work on but we played two top teams in this league back-to-back and we played well despite not knowing who we are yet.”
Gordon Hayward and the Utah Jazz pay their only visit to Indy Saturday evening.
Myles Turner Shines in Debut
The Pacers’ first-round selection sat out the season opener on Wednesday because of a sprained ankle. He’s had a few minor injuries since camp, including knee soreness and an issue with a calf.
“It’s just little fluke stuff,” he said with a smile.
Shortly after checking into his first NBA regular season game, he blocked a shot which led to a jump ball at one end. Then, his first points came on a put-back slam.
“It was a great way to get started, man,” Turner said. “I was excited. I was ready to get out there and go.”
The Pacers are a younger bunch ranging from 19 (Turner) to 30 (Ellis). Turner, who nailed a slick 18-footer from straight on, acknowledged that he’s going to have to earn the respect of others on the court. And he’s just fine with that.
In his debut with over a dozen family and friends on hand — his parents, grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, best friend, best friends’ parents, etc. — Turner contributed eight points, four rebounds, and a block.
“He brought us great energy,” Vogel said. “He looked good on the offensive end. I was very pleased with his first performance.”
Watch what he had to say about his NBA debut below:
- Paul George was fined $10,000 for public criticism of the officials after the team’s loss Wednesday in Toronto. 90 seconds into the home opener, he earned another one.
- Ushers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse were sporting a new look. They all have new gray sport coats rather than the green that matches the feel of the Fieldhouse.
- In the stands (a sellout, 18,165): Pacers owner Herb Simon; Robert Mathis, Andre Johnson, Jerrell Freeman of the Colts; Flamingo Guy (a Mets fan who took advantage of the World Series having an off day).
- Former Pacer Jonathan Bender (1999-2006) has joined FOX Sports Indiana as an analyst for Pacers Live! pregame and postgame shows. (Podcast with new game producer Max Leinwand)
- Solomon Hill, the team’s leader in total minutes last season (and 29 per game) has not yet seen the floor in two games this season.
Ushers at @TheFieldhouse with an upgrade in sport coats. Here's my man Ed. pic.twitter.com/NPib3PwAaY
— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) October 29, 2015
Me and my new teammate @JJFSINDIANA prepping. Proud to be apart of the @FOXSports team! pic.twitter.com/9cnZWBNt4i
— jonathan bender (@JonathanBender9) October 29, 2015