Pacers seize control of game in second half

• It’s somewhat perplexing to see that Pistons only gave up six fast break points considering how awful the transition defense was. Detroit players failed to pick up players when sprinting back down court and didn’t seem all that interested in communicating which player should pick up the open guy at the 3-point line getting ready to catch the ball.
• Indiana scored 46 points in the paint on the night on the strength of their cutting, screening, driving and dishing, coupled with David West’s spectacular second half.
• With Hibbert out of the game in the second half, the Pistons started their offense with their big men at the elbows with the perimeter players running hand offs to get into the lane where the Pacers didn’t have any shot blockers. The strategy was successful but Detroit then progressively went away from it.
• Greg Monroe was a monster on the interior in the second half, and yet he only had nine field goal attempts. With Indiana clearly at his mercy on defense, the spotlight went away from the Georgetown product.
• The Pistons played a game in double overtime last night and it showed. There was a stretch in the third quarter in which the Pacers looked like the home team by virtue of their energy level and effort, whereas Detroit players looked tired, played with their hands and were a step slow defensively on close outs.

Maxiell did a good job of setting screens, making himself available to ball and rotating on defense to contest shots, but his jumper betrayed him tonight and Indiana’s aggressive paint defense just allowed him to float around the perimeter without much worry, and quite frankly, he rewarded coach Vogel’s strategy.

Tayshaun Prince, SF

32 MIN | 2-7 FG | 0-1 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 4 PTS | -19

Prince was solid defensively, especially when matched up against Paul George; he shadowed him around the court and cut off his angles as well as his shot attempts. On offense though, Tay was just a train wreck. His jumper wasn’t falling, his post ups took too much time and he was indecisive when defended by a bigger player after a switch.

Kyle Singler, SF

30 MIN | 3-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 7 PTS | -10

Singler stretched out the Pacers’ defense a little with some timely perimeter shooting, but the Pacers routinely had his man (Hill or George) cut to the basket and he was more often than not a step behind, which resulted in easy scores in the paint.

Greg Monroe, C

33 MIN | 8-15 FG | 2-3 FT | 8 REB | 4 AST | 18 PTS | -15

The Georgetown product was tentative early but eventually asserted himself despite looking as though he was headed for one of his worst nights ever as a pro given that Hibbert kept successfully challenging his shots. With the Pacers’ starting center sidelined with an injury in the second half, Monroe went to work and seemed much more comfortable in the paint against Indiana’s smaller frontline players.

Brandon Knight, PG

33 MIN | 6-17 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 3 AST | 14 PTS | -15

Knight was aggressive from the outset as he put the ball on the floor to blow by his defender and also set up his jumper. He was also quite active off the ball, which meant that the Pacers had to account for him at all times.

Charlie Villanueva, PF

9 MIN | 1-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 2 PTS | -1

Villanueva was inserted into the contest to stretch a tight Pistons defense, and thus he went into the game ready to put the ball up. However, other than a nice drive stemming from a pick-and-roll, the UCONN product had little to show for his efforts tonight.

Corey Maggette, SF

16 MIN | 1-7 FG | 4-5 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 6 PTS | +8

The former Dookie was late on a few close outs and his jump shot was completely absent on the night, but Maggette still helped create some offense by posting smaller players and forcing the Pacers to send a double at him. No matter though, he will always get to the line.

Andre Drummond, C

29 MIN | 5-7 FG | 1-2 FT | 9 REB | 1 AST | 11 PTS | +8

Drummond has a tendency to stay a little too long when helping in the pick-and-roll but otherwise his defense tonight was solid. The swats will get most of the attention, but he defended both Hibbert and West early in the contest and held his own admirably; but David West eventually got the best of him though in the fourth quarter.

Rodney Stuckey, PG

32 MIN | 6-14 FG | 3-4 FT | 5 REB | 7 AST | 15 PTS | +3

Stuckey came into the game looking to feast and he did just that. He was assertive early and his eyes lit up when he noticed Ben Hansbrough was defending him. He naturally posted him up and also attacked him off the bounce, forcing Indiana to allocate more defenders in his general vicinity and he made them pay by dishing off to open teammates.