What Are You Gonna Do? Pacers Hit Ton of Shots, Get Ton of Calls, Beat Sixers

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Maybe you think the Sixers lost this game by a lot. Literally speaking I
suppose they did, since the 17-point margin of their 111-94 defeat
meets most conventional definitions of "a lot." But did the Pacers
actually outplay the Sixers considerably? I'm not convinced. They just
made more shots and got more calls. You could blame it on bad defense,
but only a small percentage of the made shots were off defensive
miscues, and a lot of the fouls seemed pretty damn questionable.
Meanwhile, the Sixers shot 53% from the field and 46% from deep,
assisted on 63% of their field goals, and only turned the ball over nine
times. How mad can you really get?

Perhaps more importantly,
the Sixers got good games from their now-proclaimed Backcourt of the
Future, whose progress individually and as teammates is probably as
important if not more so than the team's collective fate this regular
season. Jrue Holiday didn't have great ball-handling numbers, just four
assists with three turnovers, but was dynamite scoring the ball, making
seven of eight for 17 points. Jrue's assist numbers are inevitable going
to go down sharing ball-handling responsibilities with Evan and 'Dre in
the starting lineup, but as long as he's making shots and scoring
efficiently (and defending on the other end), he can remain a key part
of the team's future without posting gaudy passing numbers.

And
Evan Turner kept his streak of Villainy alive with maybe his best-ever
game shooting the ball (like a real two-guard!), hitting nine of
11—including a variety of baseline jumpers, fadeaways, even a
three-pointer!—for 21 points. Turner's rebounding fell off a little in
this one, only grabbing five total, but he added four assists, three
steals and two blocks, without a single turnover in 38 minutes. Even
with the good overall numbers, though, it was the shooting that really
impressed—he's in a groove now like we haven't seen all season, and for
maybe the first time since last year's playoffs, he actually looked like
a legit two-guard out there tonight. (By the way, Evan has now scored
over 20 points in three of the last four games, after doing so only four
times in the first 116 games of his career. Unbelievable with this
guy.)

If you really were gonna fault the Sixers for one thing tonight, it
would be their interior defense. Nice as it was to have Spencer Hawes
back on the court—and he was fine on offense, with six points and three
assists in less than 20 minutes—he didn't exactly help the team with
their rebounding woes, grabbing just two total as he, Nik Vucevic and
Elton Brand were brutalized on the offensive boards in the first half,
and the Pacers frontcourt got way too many layups and free throws. The
Sixers were ultimately out-rebounded 36-27, and only got ten free throws
to Indiana's 22—both problems for the team all season, and ones which
unlike in the last few games, Evan Turner wasn't able to help them out
with.

Still, I'm giving the Sixers a pass on this one. Sometimes you just face
a team that seems to make every shot—the nail-in-coffin back-to-back
threes by George Hill in the fourth were particularly ridiculous—and
playing good D just doesn't seem to be good enough. If the Sixers and
Pacers played a seven-game series—which they very well might in the
not-too-distant future—I'd imagine Philly and Indy would each have one
game this good, and the other five would be decided by single digits.
The teams are almost exactly equal in quality, and tonight's loss
doesn't do much to dissuade that notion for me.

The only reason this loss particularly hurts is because it might be the
first of three straight for the Sixers, as they now go on to face the
Bulls and Heat in succession this weekend. But we'll deal with those
games then, and in the meantime, it's hard to feel too bummed about a
loss where your two most promising young players shoot a combined 16-20.
The Extraterrestrial Invasion continues, and for tonight, that's good
enough.

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