The Indiana Pacers had an opportunity to make the semi-finals of Summer League if they were able to win against the Dallas Mavericks but the game was never close and rarely fun to watch.
It was the second consecutive game where nearly the entire team struggled to make shots as they hit only 27.8% of their 3-pointers and I lost count of the number of airballed shots from deep in the first quarter. Letās not waste any time and get straight to the grades! As always, grading Summer League games is an inherently silly thing so the grades will be emojis to emphasize how ridiculous this all is.
Ben Sheppard – š¢
It was a roller coaster performance for the Pacers rookie. He made his first 3-pointer before badly missing his next two on plays where the Mavericks left him wide open in an apparent miscommunication. He had three turnovers including a double dribble that stopped a transition opportunity in its tracks.
In the second half, he got hot and bounced back. Sheppard went 6 for 9 overall and made four of his five 3-pointers. In total his 5 triples were half of the teamās total of 10 as he was one of the only players that could hit a jump shot for the Pacers. He hit one deep pull-up from the wing and another side step triple to avoid the closeout that were especially nice.
Heās now made 10 of his 25 from deep over his four Summer League games which is good for 40% overall and right at a mark you would like to see from a player drafted at least in part due to his strong shooting.
Jarace Walker – š«£
Walkerās outside shot continues to be an obvious hole in his game (17.9% on seven 3-point attempts per game during Summer League). He made just 1 of his 10 attempts on threes in this game with many of them coming up short. Itās possible that heās starting to get tired with this being his fourth game in a week.
The good news is that Walkerās unlikely to put up the same type or volume of 3-pointers when the regular season comes around. His first attempt was an airballed step-back with the shot clock running down. Many of his 3s were off-the-dribble, self-created looks that would be surprising to see him taking once the real games begin.
Walker was 5 for 11 from 2-point range. He had a nice step-through floater in the lane early and a reverse dunk in transition in the second half. He finished with 13 points (6 of 21), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block.
Kendall Brown – š
Brown was one of very few Pacers to have an efficient night from the floor and finished with 14 points (5 of 8) and 6 rebounds. He made some timely cuts, finished inside, had a nice drive inside for a dunk, and got out in transition.
Isaiah Wong – āļøā
Wong had a couple plays in the second quarter where it looked like he might have tweaked something. I donāt suspect that it was anything serious but he did not play after the 6:54 mark in the third quarter. It was a mixed bag for Wong who had a middy step-back over Mavericks rookie Olivier-Maxence Prosper, a weird play where he made a layup but fouled ran into the in-bounder afterwards for a foul and a couple nice assists to set up easy baskets. He finished with 6 points (3 of 9).
Oscar Tshiebwe – š¦ŗ
Oscar battles inside like a construction worker. He struggled to deal with the length and athleticism of Dereck Lively II early and picked up a handful of fouls in the first quarter. He ended up only playing 14 minutes and added 7 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists. He had a few solid finishes out of the dunker spot and on the offensive glass. His feet remain a bit slow for this level.
Robert Woodard II – āļø
Woodard led the team in assists with 4 and made multiple dump-off passes at the perfect time. Weāll say he was the post office delivering the mail to his teammates. He set up Sheppardās side-step 3 with a behind-the-back pass and hit a cutting Ethan Thompson at the exact moment it was open. A solid game for the former King with 4 points (1 for 3), 4 assists, and 3 rebounds. He was one of only two Pacers with a positive plus/minus (+1).
Darius McGhee – š
McGhee is only 5ā9ā and hadnāt played all week until four minutes were left in the teamās fourth game. He immediately made an impact by setting up a Sheppard three and a Brown cutting dunk with both coming off of jump passes that would have made Tyrese Haliburton proud. A few minutes later he hit a step-back 3-pointer that got multiple players including Bennedict Mathurin off their feet on the bench. He could be something to watch in game five if he gets more minutes. He was a team-high +5 and may have prevented the Mavs from making the Summer League playoffs by preventing them from winning by their needed margin of victory of 27.
Mojave King, Ethan Thompson, Nate Laszewski, and Eli Brooks – š«¤
Everyone else was varying degrees of meh to okay though I will say the bench guys generally did move the ball well and didnāt try to play outside of themselves or do too much in an effort to stand out. King hit a 3-pointer in the corner in the first quarter but then badly airballed another one shortly after. Ethan Thompson continues to show his ability to put the ball in the cup and play solid offensively. He finished with 8 points (3 for 7) and 3 assists in 14 minutes. Laszewski played better in this game than the last one. He finished on three baskets inside but missed all three of his looks from deep. He still looks slow defensively but he made some solid hustle plays including a steal to stop a transition basket and he blocked a shot. Eli Brooks made two of his four 3-pointers and also had 3 assists.
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