Larry Bird Wants the Indiana Pacers to Score 105 Points Per Game

Pushing this roster to a faster pace will likely be uncomfortable for the players and McMillan, though if it’s Bird wish to push the tempo up, it may be McMillan’s command. The odds of this being disastrous are probably more likely than the odds of this working out in the Pacers’ favor.

Given those factors, here are a few scenarios in which the Pacers can legitimately find those extra three points.

• The Pacers keep their tempo around the 10 spot in the league, but the combined gelling of new players and the emergence of George and Turner to new offensive heights push the team up a couple points to 104, maybe 105 a game, without much defensive consequence.

• The Pacers push their tempo to new heights, finishing the season top five in pace. At the same time, the defense falls apart as new additions that are already defensive liabilities can’t give maximum effort on both ends of the floor. The team scores 105 points or more a game, but suffers as a whole.

• The Pacers run the fastest offense in the league. A new superteam is formed in George, Turner, Teague and Ellis. The offense works like a machine and dishes out the highest PPG total in NBA history. The Pacers defeat the Warriors in the NBA Finals in four games. Usain Bolt loses an Olympic race, a pig flies out of Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the world ends.

Now, here are a few likely scenarios where they don’t reach 105 points.

• The Pacers, despite early season efforts to run a fast (or at least similarly to last season) paced offense, revert back to McMillan’s old ways and run one of the slowest offenses in the league. The team averages below 100 points, but still run a somewhat efficient offense and defense. They still likely contend in the eastern conference.

•  The Pacers maintain their pace of last season, but with a new roster and new head coach stumble upon some growing pains offensively and defensively. They finish at about 101-102 points a game, similar to their output last season.

•  McMillan’s “I’m a fast-paced coach now” plan goes horribly wrong, dooming the team offensively and defensively. The team lacks an identity, is unable to score over 105 points and Bird is left wondering if Vogel still has his number saved.

Bottom line: If the Pacers really want to score 105 points a game, they probably can, but with this roster it may come at a cost. The Pacers do not have to score 105 points a game to be efficient offensively, and they do not have to score 105 points a game to contend in the Eastern Conference.

The likeliest scenario that occurs this season is a mixture of the ones aforementioned. There will likely be some issues gelling the new offense, and McMillan likely won’t adjust his coaching style to an extreme for this type of roster. The Pacers will probably not reach 105 points, but that isn’t a bad thing.

Their offense is “generally better” and building upon its efficiency this season is much more important than reaching a point quota.

Next: Paul George and Team USA Beat France

Besides, regardless of where the Pacers end up scoring-wise at the end of the season, Bird will probably have some other weird philosophy or nonsensical quote for us to digest by June.