Luis Scola Has Been Playing Great for the Pacers Bench

The Indiana Pacers have been lighting up the league for the past six weeks, and one of the most underrated reasons is Luis Scola turning into a beast off the bench. Yes, the George Hill effect kickstarted everything and Rodney Stuckey going Godney Mode for the past month has been electrifying.

But Luis Scola has been a critical.

Scola has long been a pro’s pro — something that is uniform across this roster and not coincidental to the late-season turnaround. And he is now stepping up to do his job productively almost every night.

Back-to-Back Double-Doubles

The Pacers stumbled against the Boston Celtics this weekend, but the have won six of their past seven games. And before the Boston loss, Scola had recorded a double-double off the bench in back-to-back games. In an overtime win against the Milwaukee Bucks that was crucial to Indiana’s hopes of getting the 6th seed, Scola put up 17 points and grabbed 15 boards.

He was all over the place, making hustle plays like he is known for, but also simply playing good, professional basketball.

Here he is missing a shot but out-crashing everyone on the glass to earn some second-chance points.

Here is another similar play from last night.

Then there was his enormous shot in overtime.

The Pacers were without the services of the injured Roy Hibbert last night, so they needed to trot out a dual-power-forward lineup of David West and Luis Scola. Sometimes, that can be an issue due to the two players’ overlapping skill sets.

But you can in the clip below how this possession got jumbled up, as both converged toward the free-throw line. But Scola saw the cluster, relocated to fix the spacing, and between Hill, West, and Scola, the team was able to get the Bucks D out of position and get an open jumper.

Too often, we overlook the value of solid-yet-reliable players like Scola. But in cases like this, just being a professional, knowing what to do, and having chemistry with and trust from your teammates can make all the difference.

It truly was against the Bucks, as this Scola jumper put them up by 3 — enough separation for Indiana to hold on and climb one game closer to getting the 6th seed.

Luis Scola’s Great Numbers

Even better have been his overall numbers. Since he plays anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes per game these days, his per-game numbers don’t stand out. But his per-36-minute figures shine.

Scola is averaging 18.4 points and 12.4 boards per-36 while shooting 50.8% from the floor since February 8. The Pacers are 11-2 over that stretch.

Only Rodney Stuckey (24.4 points per 36) has scored better, and only Ian Mahinmi (12.8 rebounds) has rebounded at a better rate. Meanwhile, Scola’s +/- of 11.5 points per 36 has been the highest on the team.

Numbers can lie, but they certainly don’t here.

Scola has been potent in his time on the court.

Luis Scola as David West Supplement

The Pacers have relied less on David West for points this year than at any points since he arrived. Some of this is him aging, some of it is his focus on ball movement and trying to get everyone involved.

But to the degree that West simply cannot do what he used it, the Pacers are getting by just fine.

Why?

Because whenever Luis Scola enters the game, the team doesn’t drop off at all. Not anymore — and this is a far cry from last year when the bench was a constant liability.

Now it doesn’t matter whether the starters or bench is in. Now, the team generally performs better when Scola is out there than it does when Mr. West is in the building.

And the longer Stuckey and Scola keep putting up such gaudy stats, the more Pacers fans will be excited to see the first quarter wind down and the reserves enter the game.