The Bojan Bogdanovic redemption started in Atlanta

The Indiana Pacers rallied around Bojan Bogdanovic as he bounced back from the worst play of his career, putting up 19 points against the Atlanta Hawks.

Bojan Bogdanovic made the worst play of his career on Monday night when he quite literally threw away a win over the Boston Celtics by passing the ball — into a turnover — in the final seconds.

Bojan’s a great free throw shooter, why was he worried about being fouled? Why make an unforced error by trying to make a pass?

He knew it immediately. Everyone knew it immediately. He slipped out of the locker room before the media could ask him about the play because of his frustration with himself.

But while Bogdanovic was kicking himself for the play, his teammates and the rest of the Indiana Pacers organization made sure everyone knew they weren’t holding it against him.

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The next night on NBA TV’s The Starters,  Myles Turner said they weren’t worried about beating up on Bogdanovic, they wanted to lift him up.

“After the game, obviously Boogie a little upset about what happened, but you don’t rag on him, you don’t rag on it,” Turner said. “That’s been the biggest thing with our locker room this year, the positivity, the togetherness. That’s one example of it right there.”

Those weren’t just words, though. They made sure on Wednesday night that they got him the ball in the first quarter because they still trusted him.

And he rewarded that trust by starting off the game with 3 of 4 shooting, including a 3-pointer. That was the first step of putting Monday’s game in the past as Bojan went on to end the night with 19 points on 8 of 14 shooting. He also had a rebound and just like he looked to make up for his mistake against Boston, Bogdanovic countered his two turnovers against the Hawks with a pair of steals.

Most importantly, Bojan and the Pacers got the win.

Of course, as a member of the media, you wish Bojan would have stuck around to answer questions after his mistake. But by avoiding the media he said more than he ever could have to them directly. The mistake was eating him up, all he wanted to do was make up for it.

Sure, a win over the Boston Celtics would push the Pacers higher up the NBA hierarchy, but Indiana can’t fix that now. What they did do his show Bojan and the rest of the team that they were more concerned about their teammate than the what if. The positivity isn’t just about making him or anyone else feel better. It gave him the confidence not only to play well against the Hawks but to have his best game in nearly a month.

Bojan didn’t have to keep second-guessing himself because his teammates let him know they weren’t by getting him the ball.

Bojan didn’t have to keep second-guessing himself because his teammates let him know they weren’t by getting him the ball. They didn’t have him on a short leash, either. They kept feeding him the ball after an early turnover.

What if the play against Boston was just an unfortunate exclamation point on a tough 30 days for Bogdanovic? What if this game ends up being the start of another hot-streak for Bojee like he was on to start the season? That it itself might hold more value than a regular season win over the Celtics.

Next: Victor Oladipo to All-Star or we riot

Bojan Bogdanovic and the Indiana Pacers can’t fix the past, but they everything they could tonight to show their future won’t be clouded by it.