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Band of Thieves: The Pacers Keep Stealing the Ball from Everyone

By Jared Wade

Nov 21, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Michael Carter-Williams (5) dribbles the ball as Indiana Pacers guard Monta Ellis (11) defends at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The The Pacers won 123-86. Mandatory Credit: James Brosher-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 21, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Michael Carter-Williams (5) dribbles the ball as Indiana Pacers guard Monta Ellis (11) defends at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The The Pacers won 123-86. Mandatory Credit: James Brosher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Getting 15 steals in a game is uncommon. As of Sunday morning, it had only happened eight times so far this season out of all the games played by all 30 teams. Unsurprisingly, the teams committing highway robbery are 8-0 in those contests, winning by an average of 18 points.

Three of those victors are the Pacers, which nabbed 15 steals on Saturday while crushing the Milwaukee Bucks by 37 points. This came just three days they logged a (tied-for) NBA high 18 steals against the Sixers. The third 15-steal game for Indiana came against the Pistons in their first win of the year, and easily makes them the most prolific thieves in the league. While the Pacers are the only team with three 15-steal games, only Boston even has two.

pacers defense
pacers defense /

This is by design.

Frank Vogel has reconstructed the Pacers defense to force more turnovers. We noted this earlier this season, but early-season numbers are often quirky based on sample size. But after 13 games, the Pacers rank 5th in the NBA in steals per game and 2nd when it comes to forcing turnovers. And on an individual basis, the Pacers have four players among the top 25 steal leaders in the league.

  • Monta Ellis: 1.8 spg
  • C.J. Miles: 1.7 spg
  • Paul George: 1.6 spg
  • George Hill: 1.6 spg

This is a big disparity from the past, and it is a strategic shift that Vogel has discussed.  “In some ways, it is a philosophical change to increase our forced turnovers and ball pressure and being in passing lanes more,” said Vogel.

pacers defense
pacers defense /

It is working.

As the Pacers re-structured the roster to play smaller and faster this year (something they have actually only done a bit more than half the time this season due mainly to injuries), everyone expected the offense to improve while the defense backslid a bit. One of the biggest questions would be whether the scoring jump would make up for the extra points allowed on the other well.

Well, through their first 13 games, there has been no backsliding whatsoever.

The Indiana Pacers defense currently ranks 4th in the NBA, allowing just 98.1 points per 100 possessions, per Basketball-Reference. League average so far this season is 103.9 while last year’s Pacers allowed 103.2 per 100. Even the 2013-14 Pacers, which had the league’s stingiest defense, allowed 99.3 per 100.

So this year’s Pacers, thus far, are harder to score against with their turnover-focused defense than they were at their very best with their world-class “force contested midrange jumpers and funnel everything else to Roy Hibbert” strategy of old. The current number will undoubtedly rise — we’re still in small-sample size territory after 13 games — but the defense has not slipped at all. In fact, it is improving.

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