pacers 89 wizards 81
12/30/2012 - Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
ESPN Boxscore
NBA.com Game Highlights

 

He had a slow start to the game, but Kevin Seraphin found his stroke tonight getting 16 points and nine boards. It was a little different as most of his points came off jump shots instead of his developed hook shot. He had an extremely tough task going up against Roy Hibbert, Ian Mahinmi and Tyler Hansbrough; but for the most part, he handled his own getting some big boards and points when it mattered.

---

Emeka Okafor: Okafor played extremely well on the defensive end grabbing the big rebounds (he had nine total on the night), but was rather ineffective on the offensive end going 2-6 for four points. His decent offensive streak came to a halt tonight as he just could not find a way to get things going.

Roy Hibbert: Hibbert is and will always be a problem for the Wizards and any team who goes up against him. He didn’t have a huge night on the boards (coming up with five total), but was just an absolute nuisance contesting shots and making players uncomfortable in the paint.

 

---

 

The Good

Jordan Crawford: He was his usual self tonight, making the tough shots and keeping the pace of the game in the Wizards’ favor while he was on the floor. He ended up 7-15 for 20 points and made 5-7 free throws. His most difficult and impressive shot came on an inadvertent alley-oop to himself (which was ultimately called off) that led Steve Buckhantz to proclaim that he should be the only player allowed to make that shot.

 

The Bad

Offensive Production: The Wizards could have easily folded after a huge first quarter run by the Indiana Pacers, but their defense kept them in this game. It was a low scoring affair with a lot of defense and sloppy passes and missed shots by the Pacers, but unfortunately, the Wizards were plagued by the same issues. Missed shots and turnovers (which are noted below in “The Ugly”) ultimately are what led this team to losing tonight’s contest. The Pacers didn’t blow the Wizards out and they didn’t run away with the game, but the Wizards never took advantage of the offensive opportunities that were given to them. They only went to the line 10 times (making 8 attempts) while the Pacers went 26-31 from the strike. They can’t set themselves up to win if they don’t take advantage of all these opportunities.

 

The Ugly

Turnovers: This certainly isn’t the first time that turnovers have highlighted the ugliness of our post-game recaps, but tonight might be the worst example of it. Both teams turned the ball over a LOT (Wizards- 19; Pacers- 17), but the Pacers found ways to make up for them on the offensive end by getting to the line.

The Wizards also had the worst timing when it came to the turnovers, as each one seemed to kill the hot streak that the team was in the middle of. They never gave themselves the chance to catch up to the Pacers at any point in this game because of a silly pass or a lack of concentration. While they are a young team and turnovers are expected, there seems to be little improvement in this department of the game; and that is probably the most frustrating part of this season.