As you guys know by now, I rely heavily on Cleaning the Glass stats for my analysis. What you may or may not have noticed, is that the stats from CTG differ from the official NBA stats because CTG excludes plays from garbage time, heaves, and technical free throws in order to better capture how players/teams are performing when it counts.

If you need a two sentence recap on how the game against the Spurs went, take a look at the note at the top of the game breakdown from CTG:

That's right: the site counted the ENTIRE fourth quarter as garbage time. A blowout, plain and simple.

After a week where the Pacers suffered a few demoralizing losses – whether by virtue of dropping winnable games or by being on the other end of a drubbing – it was good to see the team put together a complete performance.

If one thing is clear, the Pacer's style of play is going to lead to big swings in results. Some days the threes will fall and they'll score in a range that rounds-up to 200. Other days they'll be throwing up bricks and force you to take a gander at Tankathon. I think it's reasonable to wonder if this style of play will translate to a playoff atmosphere (should we be lucky enough to make it that far) but two weeks into the season, the massive swings are averaging out encouragingly.

Courtesy of Cleaning the Glass

If nothing else, this all-gas-no-brakes style of basketball is entertaining for the fans.

Rick Carlisle's 900th Win

Carlisle, who is second all-time in wins, beat the man who is in first place by a healthy margin, Gregg Popovich. According to Rick, that was a special coincidence:

“I told Pop after the game that I'm very grateful for him... He was a mentor to me before I got a head coaching job. When I was here as an assistant, I didn't get the job after Larry [Brown] left. Pop called me up and invited me to come down to San Antonio's training camp... It was a big confidence-builder for me. He's been wonderful to so many young coaches.”

Popovich, for his part, had kind words to say about Carlisle as well.

Haliburton and Sheppard Elected as NBPA Reps.

The team elected Hali and Shep to represent them on the NBPA Player Board of Representatives. Good to see the rookie taking a leadership role and that his teammates trust him.

Utah Jazz

Tonight's matchup with the Jazz has the potential to be another high scoring affair. Utah has one of the worst defensive efficiency ratings in the league and is going to be without Walker Kessler, it's rim protecting anchor.

Courtesy of Cleaning the Glass

In fact, expect to see a younger less experienced lineup all together from the opponents tonight. Rookie Keyonte George and second year wing Ochai Agbaji will both start to compensate for injuries.

Unfortunately, we won't get to see Taylor Hendricks, one of Pacers fans' draft crushes, as he is on assignment in the G-League. As far as the Pacers, everyone seems to be healthy. I'll never get used to saying that.

How to Watch

Tipoff is at 7:00 PM ET.

TV: Bally Sports Indiana, NBA League Pass

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan

See ya in the comments.

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