Doyel: Rodney Stuckey off the bench is best for Pacers

There is a very good Rodney Stuckey, and there is one who is not so very good, and there is no mystery about the difference. The very good Stuckey, as weird as this might sound, is the one who doesn't start.

Stuckey didn't start on Sunday night.

Pity, Golden State.

With Stuckey coming off the bench to score 30 points for the second game in a row, the Pacers rallied from a dismal opening quarter to beat the NBA's best team, 104-98, albeit a team missing its best player. Warriors guard Stephen Curry sat out with an ankle injury.

Anyone around here feel bad for Golden State? Hope not. The Pacers have played all season without their best player, Paul George. They also have played weeks at a time without David West and George Hill. And without C.J. Watson and C.J. Miles. And without Stuckey.

But 55 games into the season they have hit their stride with Stuckey coming off the bench. I'd love to give Pacers coach Frank Vogel credit for the move, because I'm a big Vogel guy, but he had nothing to do with this particular discovery. He was determined to put Stuckey in the starting lineup until Stuckey came to him three games ago and asked him to please stop.

"(Stuckey) liked the idea of coming off the bench, 'If you want to use me that way,'" Vogel said.

It sounds so selfless, but it's not – though not in a bad way. Rodney Stuckey is 28, an eight-year NBA veteran. He knows his game, what makes it work. And what makes it work is coming off the bench, surrounded by lesser talent with the second unit.

Basically, it's like this: To be the best Rodney Stuckey he can be, he needs to dominate the ball. Certainly he needs to dominate the ball in his first few minutes on the court, getting a feel for what the defense is giving him, and what he can simply take. He does that for a few minutes, and he's in his rhythm. And when Rodney Stuckey gets in his rhythm?

Pity, Golden State.

Stuckey hit his rhythm immediately Sunday and had more points (30) than minutes (28), plus five assists and four rebounds. He hit 11-of-17 shots from the floor, and 2-of-4 on 3-pointers. Like I said, he discovered what the defense was giving him – and what he could simply take.

And he took what he damn well pleased.

"Everybody knows how fast he is, how he gets to the rim. We call it that 'Stuckey Shoulder' he puts on everybody," C.J. Miles said, smacking his own shoulder for emphasis. "If he scores 90 points the next three games, it's all good."

He just might, if his left ankle holds up.

Oh, right. The ankle. Remember that? Stuckey had 30 points in 27 minutes Friday against the 76ers before being carried off the court with an apparent ankle sprain. When it happened, coaches and teammates thought he'd miss several games.

"I thought so, too," Stuckey said.

Stuckey didn't practice Saturday and there was no shoot-around earlier Sunday, so the game was his first test. He had trainers wrap the ankle extra tight, and that was the extent of his preparation to play.

"He's as tough as they come," Vogel said.

And coming off the bench suits him. The Pacers have won three games in a row since Stuckey asked to leave the starting lineup, and he is averaging 25.3 ppg in that stretch. He rescued the Pacers from an abysmal start Sunday, a first quarter in which they allowed 38 points and were beaten to just about every 50-50 ball, including one particularly telling offensive rebound for Golden State that bounced between four Pacers and was scooped up by Warriors forward David Lee, setting up Klay Thompson's bucket for a 32-21 Golden State lead. Another possession ended with David West helping on a perimeter screen and waving his hands helplessly as nobody helped him, allowing West's man – Lee – to tap in an offensive rebound.

For a Pacers team that was getting run out of the building early, Stuckey wasn't just a shot of offense. He was a shot of swagger. He hit his first shot, then his second, and scored five points in five first-quarter minutes.

Then he got better.

Stuckey scored 10 points in 8 minutes in the second quarter. He scored nine points in 7 minutes in the third quarter. Only in the fourth quarter (six points, 10 minutes) did he fail to score at least one point per minute. What changed in the fourth quarter? He spent most of those minutes with starters Roy Hibbert, George Hill and Miles.

"I can do a lot more things out there (with the second unit)." Stuckey said. "When I'm aggressive out there on the court, I'm at my best."

Maybe it's a mental thing – probably is, come to think of it – but after dominating the first three quarters with the second unit, Stuckey didn't take over in the fourth, surrounded by starters, until the Warriors took their first lead of the quarter, 90-89, in final 4 minutes.

It was time for someone to rescue the Pacers, and here came Stuckey, getting loose for a layup. Then he hit a 17-footer. He closed out his finishing flurry, and the best team in the NBA, with two free throws with 4.8 seconds left for the final margin.

That gave him 30 points, his second straight 30-point outing, this one coming on an ankle that had him nearly a game-time decision to play and sent him to an ice tub for nearly 15 minutes afterward.

"I'll be fine," Stuckey said. "Couple days, it'll be back to normal."

Wait. The ankle isn't normal yet?

Pity, whoever's next.

Find Star columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar or at www.facebook.com/gregg.doyel