Suns 129, Pacers 122: Jamaal, I'm Open!

Well, we learned one thing tonight. Jamaal Tinsley one-on-one against Shawn Marion is not a favorable matchup for the Pacers. Mel Mel took every shot in OT except for a tip in of one of his misses by Mike Dunleavy. Most of the shots were off isolation against Shawn Marion. Shawn Marion, you know, the Matrix -- a name given for his freakish athletic ability. Marion is half a foot taller than Tinsley and twice as quick.

Look, I love Tins and his willingness to take the big shots down the stretch, but this was ridiculous. He took ALL the shots for the Pacers at the end of regulation and then in OT. Tinsley shot the ball on 14 straight possessions beginning with two minutes left in regulation. Ridiculous turned comical as I was laughing while Tins made it through the whole OT trying to score on every possession. If the spread was a little tighter, Vegas would be launching a full-scale point shaving investigation right now.

What was O'B doing? Was that the plan? Isolate Mel Mel against the Matrix? What were Danny and Dun doing? How about demanding the ball and trying to make something happen? Tinsley's playing his second game with a tender hammy after missing five. He was obviously gassed since he had absolutely no lift in his legs. Maybe he was so tired that he slipped into a semi-conscious state and didn't know what was going on. Really, I'm trying to think rationally about what I just witnessed but I can't push a plausible explanation through my mind.

What a bizarre ending to a spectacular effort against the Suns. J.O. was out, the bench stepped up with 35 first half points. Travis Diener played his best game of the year. Shawne Williams had a few huge stretches, providing a nice offensive boost.

Hey, if the games are this entertaining the Pacers might as well lose. Let's face it, a title run seems a little ambitious. Dropping a few more games below .500 will require a long hard look at a complete blow up.

I had lots of notes, with plenty of fun facts from this wild game, but the Tinsley finish overwhelmed any other observations. Maybe I'm asleep and this is a weird dream. I think I'll go to bed and see if anything changes when I wake up. Oh, here's the box score. Good night.