A win is a win, preseason or not.  The Pacers held off the Mavericks to a score of 100-93.

Anytime we face a Western Conference opponent, I get nervous. Who doesn't? The outcome of the game couldn't be any better than I thought we were going to be.

I really think our bench came out and played well tonight. Well, for preseason's sake, our bench is our starters.

It was a surprise that Granger played, let alone as well as he did. Danny got out of his slump tonight and put on a a decent show. The Mavericks only played their marquee players for a short time with the exception for Diop, and a couple others. Jason Kidd did not play.

Roy, wow...I still don't think he is starter material, but I still have high hopes from him. His defensive prowess is growing by the game. His presence in the paint is one that I haven't seen the likes of since Rik and Dale. However, he needs to work on keeping a firm ground and has to stay out of foul trouble. He is a rookie, but he sure doesn't look like one.

Brandon Rush played magnificently tonight. However, his and Danny's numbers both really don't tell the whole story. Their free throws added a lot to their game tonight. Their shooting percentage needs to go up in order for us to play well agains the stronger defenses in the league.

Although, Austin made both of his shot attempts, which were behind the arc, I do feel like he needs to become on of those big bodies and box out for the rebounds. He did just that tonight.

T.J. Ford and Jarrett Jack played well at the point tonight. Jack had a few noteworthy fast breaks which were nice. The speed of the game was controlled by us throughout the game, which is exactly what we needed out of Ford and Jack.


Some things we need to work on:

Turnovers: we had 21 tonight, 15 in the first half. We have to choose our passes a lot better and protect the ball.

Fouls: There were too many fouls, which most were drawn off of fast breaks. We need to get back on defense and let our big men crash the boards.

Shot Selection: Davis and Rush were main culprits in this area tonight. Be sure that you know that you are capable of making the shot before you go out 23 feet to make a shot.

Notes:

This was Dallas' Coach Rick Carlisle's first game back at Conseco Fieldhouse since his departure in 2006.

Shawne Williams came back to visit since being traded this past weekend to Dallas for Eddie Jones and some other considerations.

I will be at the Fieldhouse this Friday as the Pacers take on the Memphis Grizzlies trying to rebound from the loss agains them Monday in Tennessee.