Pacers defense costly vs Wizards, but lineups and rookies pop
The Pacers "lost" to the Wizards again with some noteworthy events popping.
WASHINGTON – The Pacers gave up 22 first-quarter points against the Wizards on Friday night. That's great, and enough to win if done four times. But it wasn't repeated, far from it. Instead, the Pacers gave up 109 points across the final three quarters — 35 in both the second and third, then 39 in the fourth — en route to a double-digit loss in the Nation's Capitol, their second in a row.
For the inverse standings, it was a great result for the Pacers. When it comes to evaluating their young talent, many of whom were heavily featured during the DC back-to-back, the defensive failures were worrying. The Wizards scored 78 points in the paint with 10-day contract and two-way players getting whatever they wanted.
"The game got revved up a little bit up and down. When you insert live-ball turnovers in the mix — it was happening both ways, they were turning it over too — you get some high scores," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said of the gaudy scores in the game. Washington won 131-118.
On top of their paint success, the Wizards got 84 points from their bench and 30 points off of turnovers. The Pacers coughed the ball up 21 times, their second-straight game over 20, and that made life easy for Washington. They had open lanes in transition and in the half court.
Tony East
Alondes Williams, a 10-day contract player, had 25 points and 10 boards. Sharife Cooper currently has a two-way deal and scored 18. Washington had 36 assists, won the rebounding battle, and made 58% of their shots. Even without most of their best players, the Wizards scored with borderline-comical ease.
"They made a lot of shots," Jay Huff said matter-of-factly postgame of his team's defensive woes.
It cannot be stressed enough that even in an environment where winning and losing are less important measures of success for the Pacers, player development is a never-ending key objective. Outside of some pesky steals from Taelon Peter and effective feet shuffling from Ben Sheppard and Quenton Jackson, there wasn't much to like from the reserve groups on the defensive end. That's notable as the team figures out what their end-of-bench players can, and can't, do — and if they are capable of more when the team swings back into competitiveness next year.
During both games in Washington, the Pacers held a fourth-quarter lead. In both, they gave up a big late run that sunk their chances. The results are great for the Pacers' lottery odds, which should be a top-of-mind goal for the franchise the rest of the season. But more individual successes along the way would be good for the team too, particularly once they stop playing against other opponents in the race to the bottom.
That's not all from round two of Pacers-Wizards.
The new pairing to watch
T.J. McConnell started at point guard on Friday after missing Thursday's game. Huff started at center. Those two have played together before, but after the Pacers trade deadline moves they are an important pairing to watch down the stretch.
With Ivica Zubac in the fold, McConnell and Huff project to be the 1-5 combo off the bench. That's been a constantly-changing pairing for the Pacers in their current era. Jalen Smith, Isaiah Jackson, Thomas Bryant, Tony Bradley, and now Huff have held the roles with McConnell at various times. In that era, the Pacers depth has been critical. How Huff and McConnell perform, and fit, together is an important topic in future games.
They entered Friday night with 240 minutes together this season. Against the Wizards, they overlapped for 10:31 — and the Pacers were +5. "They have a good feel for each other. Jay's spacing really opens up space for T.J.," Carlisle said postgame. "When T.J. gets downhill and they commit two to him, he can throw it back. And Jay's shooting the heck out of the ball right now. So a lot of good possibilities."
The two connected in both pick-and-pop and pick-and-roll setups in the first few minutes of the game. That's when the Pacers created one of their biggest leads of the night. There is some natural chemistry between the two, though more reps can't hurt — particularly once they are also on the floor with Obi Toppin at some point. Huff and Toppin have 20 minutes together ever.
"Playing with T.J. make my life a lot easier," Huff said. "I think it's pretty well established. He makes life for me and Micah [Potter] pretty simple. The way he plays, it's easy to gel with," he added of their chemistry.
McConnell shared similar notes. "I'm just trying to make his life easier, he's trying to make my life easier. Just trying to figure that out, and that comes with minutes together," he said. "I think the trade for [Zubac] gives [Huff] some role clarity. I think that'll be good. He got traded here and had to learn how we played really quick. He's kind of rolled with the punches and handled it with grace. Really proud of him and really looking forward to building that chemistry."
Kam Jones, performing and hurt
Kam Jones was handed nearly 39 minutes of action on Friday night and dished out a career-high 11 assists. It's easier to achieve a statistical peak with that much playing time, but Jones has displayed better vision of late.
More minutes have helped, as has distance from his lengthy early-season injury. He's slowly grown more comfortable, appearing in 20 of the team's last 29 games and getting double-digits minutes in the last seven.
The unfortunate part of Jones' last two outings has been the return of the aforementioned injury. He had a back issue early in the season and left both games in Washington early while dealing with back pain – he was visibly uncomfortable both times.
Carlisle said postgame on Friday that Jones' back cramped up and admitted he should have given the rookie guard one more stint of rest in the fourth quarter. He's listed as questionable (lower back soreness) for Pacers-Mavericks tomorrow.
Jones was critical of his own pre-game prep after leaving with the injury. "I'm feeling good. I just caught a few cramps. I think that's another part of adjusting. I thought I hydrated enough, but obviously I didn't," he said.
That has struck me when it comes to Jones. Often, he is very introspective and critical of himself, or his play. After Friday's game, Carlisle praised Jones' feel and moxie. He had just dished out 11 assists, after all, and pulled in five rebounds.
There were many warts to his game, though, particularly his six turnovers and some defensive lapses. And that's where the rookie guard's mind went in the locker room after the loss. "Appreciate my teammates catching the ball aggressive, ready to shoot, ready to score. Definitely appreciate them," he said of his 11 assists. Then, some self evaluation. "On the other hand, I had a lot of turnovers."
The speed of the game, Jones admitted, is slowing down. His confidence is still there. But he wants to see more improvement from himself in these extended chances, and that's why he is so critical of himself almost every night.
"That's really not something I'm very familiar with," Jones said of his turnovers. "[I] can't help but think that over time, as the game continues to slow down for me and I keep progressing and learning, I'm gonna get better. And especially over time, over the years, it'll be good."
The honesty is refreshing. Jones is currently feeling many things at once: self-reflection, the game slowing down, and a rookie wall – he admitted to me last night the length of the season to this point has been an adjustment. And that's all on top of an injury. As he gets more reps and compartmentalizes those parts of his career, he expects improvement. An 11-assist game shows that at least some growth is already happening.
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed the stories from the games in D.C.. Subscribe to not miss anything on the Fever and the Pacers.
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