The Indiana Pacers are back and they won a game against a bad team—though the Pistons are definitely much improved from last season—when their offense didn’t look like it was at its best for much of the night. For now, we can call that progress. For a season opener against a team anxious to show they aren’t going to be bottom dwellers this year, you’ll take the win anyway you can get it.
The Pacers defense got progressively better as the game went on finishing with a 19-point quarter. After one game for most teams in the league, the Pacers rank 10th in defensive rating. While it’s just one game and you certainly don’t want to overreact like I did on the Locked on Pacers podcast, considering where the Pacers spent the first half of last season you’ll take that start against anyone.
To the grades!
Bennedict Mathurin – A
The only thing Bennedict Mathurin may like more than playing the Detroit Pistons is baking and he was cooking in the fourth quarter of this game. 14 points and 9 free throw attempts in the last 12 minutes alone. The Pacers don’t win the game without Mathurin’s contributions.
“Benn Mathurin was great in this game,” Rick Carlisle said after the game. “He just has that attitude as an attacker and as a scorer. I thought as the game went on his defense got better.”
The highlight of the game for him came early in the fourth quarter when he put Jaden Ivey on the floor and rose up to hit a long 2-pointer, continuing the one-sided rivalry where Mathurin has these kind of moments against Ivey and loves to tell him all about it.
Of course, last year had the Rising Stars game moment with the trash talk playing live during the game with Benn wearing a mic. “Even in the Rising Stars game you can’t guard me” and well even in his home opener Ivey still couldn’t guard him. The Pistons who drafted Ivey one spot ahead of the Pacers drafting Mathurin are one of three teams that Mathurin has averaged over 20 points per game against. The only team he has averaged more points per game than the 20.3 against the Pistons? The Sacramento Kings who drafted Keegan Murray at 4th ahead of them both.
Outside of some excellent outside shooting, a few well-timed slot cuts to get open at the rim from McConnell drives, and consistently drawing fouls and contact at the rim, Mathurin’s effort on the glass really stood out as he was often just higher off the floor than anyone else going for the board. 6 rebounds total with one on the offensive end. His rebounding was crucial to the Pacers winning the rebounding battle 39-38. Though he does need to work on when to go for the rebounds and when to get back as one possession led to an easy transition bucket for the Pistons because Mathurin put the team in a disadvantaged situation by pursuing a rebound he was unlikely to get.
He had two critical hustle plays down the stretch that saved a Haliburton errant pass that was headed out of bounds and the possession ended in a needed bucket from Siakam to put team ahead by 3 with 3:39 left after neither team had scored for close to three minutes. Later with the Pacers up by 4, Mathurin fought for an offensive rebound enough that Cunningham was unable to gather it and tipped it out of bounds. This led to a crucial 3-point foul on a Mathurin shot attempt.
While he had just one assist, he made quick decisions in the flow of the offense, had a few potential assists where shots were missed, and kept the possession moving on the critical Tyrese Haliburton dagger triple to close the game.
Mathurin actually got a quick pull from the game in the third quarter for poor defense after getting switched onto Cade Cunningham and then getting stuck on the screen allowing him to go to work on Enrique Freeman with little resistance but Carlisle credited the young wing with responding when he got his next opportunity. Really good stuff from Mathurin in his official return to action from his shoulder injury last March.
Myles Turner – B-
Turner had about the worst first half imaginable. Jalen Duren was abusing him early on the glass and stonewalling him whenever Turner attempted to drive towards the basket. He struggled to catch a few passes and just looked rough. In the first half he was just 1 for 6 with 4 points. But in the third quarter he responded with a volcanic eruption, scoring 12 points in less than 3 minutes with an and-1 layup and three triples in quick succession. He ended up with 16 of his team-high 20 points in the third quarter.
But he wasn’t only scoring the ball, Turner turned up the physicality in the second half and was a presence around the rim with 9 rebounds and 4 blocks. If Turner can return to form from a few years ago as a rim protector, that would go a long way for the team making strides in that end. Really encouraging second half from Turner as he starts the 10th year of his career with the Pacers and he was a game-high +20.
3 of his 4 blocks came against Cade Cunningham, who is quickly rising in the list of players Turner has blocked the most. He’s one of 15 players that Turner has blocked at least 10 times after last night.
Tyrese Haliburton – C
The Pacers star point guard had a really bad offensive game to start the season as he struggled to make anything from outside the arc and while he got up an encouraging 18 shots, the Pistons baited him into passing a few times when he had short open floaters or layups and instead turned it over in the fourth quarter. But still in the end, he brought the boom and hit his only 3-pointer of the game at the most crucial time.
Normally this type of game would have been a D at best for Haliburton but his defense was impressive and one of the better games of his career on that end. He finished with 3 steals and a pair of blocks and was much more active and attentive in getting involved in the play than has been the case in previous years. While chasing shooters around screens is still not a strong suit and Tim Hardaway Jr. was able to start both halves with a couple 3s, Haliburton made a lot of plays on that end: blocking Cunningham from behind, wiping away a floater attempt from Hardaway, anticipating a pass to the corner, intercepting a failed handoff, forcing Hardaway to abandon a 3-point attempt. While the pre-game nap he took at the behest of Steph Curry wasn’t helpful on the offensive end, maybe it was on defense.
Or perhaps it was former President Barack Obama inspiring the improved effort on that end of floor after Haliburton interviewed Obama in the first episode of the Young Man and the Three podcast. Carlisle called Obama’s comments below “an executive order” for the team to improve on the defensive end. Good start to that goal in game one.
Pascal Siakam – A
Siakam was the Pacers best, most consistent player in this one. A near triple double with 19 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds. The Pistons have nobody that can do anything against him when he gets the ball in good position in the post and he put up those numbers while it felt like the Pacers would go long stretches forgetting that he’s as good as he is. His defense also felt more active and improved over what we saw last season.
T.J. McConnell – A
McConnell was right back in his usual pesky pest form as he blurred right by any defender that was guarding him as he made his array of layups and mid-range fadeaways. He finished with 14 points and missed only one his 8 shots, adding 4 assists all in just 16 minutes. He should get more love for as a possible Sixth Man of the Year candidate but his teammate Bennedict Mathurin may have something to say about that too.
Andrew Nembhard – B-
Nembhard’s box score is modest with 8 points and 7 assists but his defense was impressive against Cunningham who was 4 of 15 outside of his hot third quarter that partially came against other defenders while he was on the bench. He battled him throughout the night and made the Pistons Star work for everything. His ability to take on the other team’s primary guard option and defend at the point of attack makes him an ideal fit next to Haliburton. On offense, the Pacers continue to give him a lot more playmaking responsibility than was the case prior to last year as he ended with more assists than Haliburton and often was the primary initiator of the offense.
Aaron Nesmith – C
Nesmith didn’t have a bad night but struggled to stay on the floor mostly because of foul trouble. Once Mathurin started cooking in the fourth, Carlisle opted to close with the hot hand over Nesmith. He finished with 7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block in 19 minutes.
Obi Toppin – C
Toppin was another bench player that was very quiet in this game with only two shot attempts but he isn’t the type of guy that is going to be creating his own looks. Carlisle credited his running as something that made a difference in the game despite it not showing in the box score. He finished with 2 points, 2 assists, a steal, and a rebound.
Jarace Walker – C+
Walker only played six first-half minutes as it appeared the plan was to limit the rotation to 9 in the second half before Sheppard ended up briefly replacing Mathurin. It didn’t appear that him not playing in the second half was because of poor play. His defense was active and physical, he was playing hard and with energy, he hit a 3-pointer on a cross court pass from McConnell and his only miss was an end of quarter heave from near half court. The minutes were disappointing but these were solid minutes from the second-year forward. He finished with 3 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist. He did have one turnover where he was called for a charge on a poor decision where he could have just driven baseline and likely gotten to the rim but instead he tried to fake that way and ended up going right into the defender.
Ben Sheppard – C+
Shep came in for Mathurin in the third quarter as a defensive replacement and provided his usual hard play and physical defense. While he never attempted a shot, he added a pair of rebounds and a block in his six minutes. The Pacers outscored the Pistons by 1 in that time.
James Wiseman – B
Just brutal news that Wiseman tore his Achilles on a non-contact injury after attempting a 3-pointer and trying to get back on defense. Just awful stuff that you never want to see. He played well offensively, if a little shot happy, but he continued his solid play finishing on offense with 6 points (2 for 4) in his 5 minutes.
Enrique Freeman – C-
Freeman worked his butt off like normal. He’s a little undersized as a center especially against the Pistons pair of strong bigs in Duren and Stewart but he did everything he could while looking outmatched at times. I’m giving him some grace in his first career game when he wasn’t even expected to play. He scored his first points of his career at the foul line and received the game ball afterwards. He had a rough stretch in the third quarter where he got hung out to dry trying to guard Cunningham on switches on consecutive possessions and turned it over on a miscommunication in between those two plays. In 7 minutes, he had zero counting stats beyond the free throws and the turnover.
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Thanks Derik! I appreciate your work here and when you take the time to talk with Tony E.
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Appreciate you reading and listening, Gregory!
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