The Indiana Pacers picked up their second straight win in convincing fashion over the Dallas Mavericks. The teams met at Bankers Life Fieldhouse with 14 wins a piece. But it was the Pacers who came out of the game with their 15th win of the season.
The Pacers started their big lineup, most likely to compensate for the size of Dallas' two big men Zaza Pachulia and Dirk Nowitzki. Neither team got rolling in the first quarter and it was close throughout, but after mini-runs by both teams the Pacers held a slim 20-19 advantage.
During the second quarter it remained a close game and yours truly was starting to wonder if an overtime game was on the horizon. But the Mavericks actually won this quarter 28-25 with both teams starting to settle into the game more. Raymond Felton hit a pair of threes for the Mavericks to lead them to that halftime lead. Devin Harris injured his right hamstring in the first half and it became known that he was out for the rest of the game for the Mavericks. The score at half ended up being 47-45 in favor of the Mavericks.
Monta Ellis may have entered the third quarter scoreless, but he made very sure he showed his old team what they were missing when the second half started. Monta scored 13 points in the quarter and led the Pacers to win the quarter 30-17. Indiana's big third quarter ended up being the difference in the game. Heading into the final quarter the Pacers led the Mavericks 75-64.
The Pacers really picked up the pace in the fourth quarter and destroyed any chance of a Mavericks comeback, which became very clear when both teams emptied their benches around the three minute mark.
Indiana would go on and defeat Dallas, 107-81. This game ended up being a pretty good example of the saying, it's not how you start but how you finish.
The reason the Mavericks were ahead at half was because the game was being played at their pace. The Mavericks have two true big men and prefer to get into their half court sets, running the floor isn't a priority when your best player is a seven-foot, 37-year-old power forward.
So when the Pacers started running the floor and playing their style, the game swung heavily in their favor. Once that happened in the second half the Pacers started to pull and put the game out of reach.
This also ended up being one of the most physical games of the year with Wesley Matthews and Devin Harris going back to the Mavericks locker room. Indiana's Lavoy Allen would go to the locker room and be checked out as well.
Monta Ellis didn't start well against his old team, not scoring a single point in the first half. But he started to take control and ended up being the one to propel the Pacers to their double digit lead at the end of the third. Ellis and Paul George would finish the game with 19 points apiece. C.J. Miles led all scorers with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field.
As for the Dallas Mavericks, none of their players really had awesome games. In fact, only Raymond Felton (16) and Dirk Nowitzki (13) had 10+ points for the Mavericks. Felton had a very solid first half and was the biggest reason the Mavericks held the lead at the half. Dirk struggled the entire game to make his shots going 1-of-7 from beyond the arc, which led to the Pacers clogging the lane more and preventing easy baskets. Unfortunately for the Mavericks, nobody on their team really stepped up and knocked down the necessary shots to compete in this game.
As soon as the Pacers started running the floor and getting easy baskets it was over for the Mavericks, who aren't very good at scoring which leads to an issue in coming back. Overall, the Pacers played a good game, holding the Mavericks to 81 points on 36.7 percent shooting from the field. But wins are only good until the next game. The next Pacers game is Friday against the Brooklyn Nets. So take the next day to appreciate this fine Indiana Pacers performance.