Each Wednesday we’ll take a look back at the week that was for the Indiana Pacers and give you what was good, what was bad, and what’s coming up next.
Last weeks Indiana Pacers schedule & results:
Tuesday: Detroit Pistons – L 83-107
Wednesday: Dallas Mavericks – L 94-98
Friday: Chicago Bulls – L 104-119
Sunday: Minnesota Timberwolves – L 90-107
The Indiana Pacers New Years Resolution may be to forget about the last week. With soon to be first-time all-star Victor Oladipo out three of the four games last week with a mysterious “sore knee” we got a good look at the rest of the Pacers team. Unfortunately, that look was pretty ugly.
Indiana went 0-4 on the week, getting blown out in three of the four games and struggled to get anything going without their star.
Let’s take a look back at the week.
Star of the week: Domantas Sabonis
Surprise of the Week: Joe Young‘s 20 point performance against the T’Wolves
Most disappointing thing of the week: Myles Turner‘s poor play
The good – The bench steps up
Aside from the 30 point explosion from Darren Collison against the Chicago Bulls, the Pacers starters were pretty putrid all week long on both sides of the floor. The worst performance came against Minnesota on Sunday, when the Timberwolves jumped out to a 17-0 lead and the first points from a Pacers starter didn’t come until the 4:47 mark in the second quarter. In that same game, star center Myles Turner managed to go 0-5 from the field, scoring just 1 point and grabbing 2 rebounds in 19 minutes of play. I could go on and on about the starters and their poor play, but because of that the bench got plenty of opportunities to shine bright and for the most part, they took advantage of it. Notable performances included Domantas Sabonis’ 10 points and 5 rebounds against the Detroit Pistons and 14 point, 9 rebound performance against Chicago, CoJo’s 10 points, and 6 assists against Dallas, and Joe Young’s 20 points in 24 minutes against the Timberwolves. The bench scored 20+ points in every single game this week, making them the best part of the four-game losing streak.
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While the starters were expected to step up and perform at a high level with their star out, it was the bench that constantly got the Pacers back into games. Hopefully, with Vic expected to be back sometime in the coming days, the confidence the bench got in an extended run in his absence should go a long way in improving the Pacers long term. It was becoming more and more apparent in the weeks leading up to Oladipo getting injured that Head Coach Nate McMillan needed to deepen his rotation, and I think we saw that there are several guys who ready for more playing time. Whether it’s Al Jefferson, Joe Young, T.J. Leaf, Alex Poythress, Damien Wilkins or Ike Anigbogu, McMillan needs to be able to count on some of these guys to keep his starters fresh down the stretch of games.
The Bad – The Pacers look like bottom feeders without star guard Victor Oladipo
Through 30+ games the Indiana Pacers have been one of the biggest surprises of the 2017-18 NBA season, considering they were an early favorite to win the number one pick coming into the season after they dealt superstar Paul George this offseason for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. Boy were the experts wrong. Behind a career year from Victor Oladipo, who is averaging 24.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game, the Pacers currently one game above .500 and are holding down the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. No one saw this coming. Trading away Paul George for Victor Oladipo are you kidding me? The trade was criticized from all angles, and the Pacers looked like fools. However, In his fifth season, playing for his third team Victor Oladipo is having a career year and looks like he is becoming one of the bright young stars in the NBA.
Here’s an excerpt from a Bleacher Report piece detailing the weeks after the Pacers acquired Oladipo.
"“By making this move, management is saying they’re going to build around you,” McMillan recalls telling Oladipo. “But I don’t want you to put any added pressure on yourself. So do your thing, play freely, and we’ll figure out how you begin leading this organization.” It was the expression of confidence that Oladipo had been waiting years to hear. A former No. 2 overall pick, the 25-year-old guard has enjoyed a solid NBA career (16.3 points per game). The thing is, solid isn’t what teams or fans expect from players drafted that high. No. 2 picks are expected to become studs, the types of talents that no team would dream of trading, let alone twice, which is all to say that through the first five years of his career, Oladipo had fallen short. But now, one month into this new season, it seems that one more change of scenery coupled with an expression of faith was all he needed. Oladipo is playing like a star and validating the Pacers‘ decision to place their future in his hands. He’s boosted his scoring all the way up to 23 points per game while shooting a career-high 47.4 percent from the field. He also has the 12-9 Pacers, a team pegged by most experts prior to the season as one of the worst in the league, outperforming expectations, despite the squad’s other star, Myles Turner, missing five games due to a concussion."
With as good as Victor Oladipo has been its overshadowed just how mediocre the rest of the team has been at times. Unfortunately for the Pacers, with Victor injured and missing three of the team’s four games, the flaws we’ve seen with Oladipo out of the games this season have stuck out like a sore thumb.
More from Pacers News
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- Pacers fans get angry at Tyrese Haliburton’s NBA 2K24 rating reveal
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The transition game which Indiana thrives in has suffered mightily. No one has been able to step up and score in bunches like Oladipo does when healthy. And the defense has been one of the worst, if not the worst in the league. With Oladipo not playing you also would have expected Myles Turner, the Pacers third-year center to step up and play his basketball of the season, but just like many of the other players on the team his play has suffered without the presence of Oladipo.
In the three games that Oladipo sat out this week Turner averaged 10 points and 3 rebounds per game while shooting a measly 37% from the field, and having a -2 +/- or worse in every game but one.
With their star guard in the lineup, this season the Pacers have played like a team that deserves to be in the playoffs (combined record of 19-14), without him they’ve looked like one of the worst teams in the league (0-4), suffering three devastating blowout losses
Getting Victor Oladipo back healthy is crucial if this team has any shot at making a run at the playoffs.
What’s Next – Getting Victor Oladipo healthy in a light game week
The Indiana Pacers only have two games this week, one against Milwaukee tonight and the other on Saturday against Chicago, which means a lot of practice time and lot of rehab for Victor Oladipo.
It was announced earlier this week that Oladipo would miss his fourth straight game against the Bucks and star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, which doesn’t bode well for a cold Pacers team. However, with having five days off this week, Victor should be able to get in lots of good rehabilitation and a lot of rest, which means we could see him back on the floor for Saturday’s rematch against the Chicago Bulls at home.
Behind the Buck Pass
In their matchup last week against the Bulls, the Pacers allowed forwards Nikola Mirotic and Lauri Markkanen to combine for 60 points on 21/37 shooting. If they have any shot at taking the red-hot Bulls down, they’ll need Thaddeus Young, Alex Poythress, and Domantas Sabonis to improve on the defensive end.
Otherwise, you can expect a result similar to the 119-107 blowout loss suffered on Friday night.
Going up against the Bucks will also be a tough test for the Pacers, who have struggled mightily with guarding dynamic wings/forwards this season.
The Pacers will also need Darren Collison, Lance Stephenson, and Bojan Bogdanovic to step up and assume a bigger scoring load to keep up with Giannis Antetokounmpo, who currently sits second in the league in scoring (29.0 PPG).
If the Indiana Pacers are able to pull out a victory somehow, they would remain 3 games up on the Knicks in the 8th seed of the Eastern Conference.
Next: What will Glenn Robinson III’s role be?
Let’s hope they can do so before facing a Bulls team that recently smacked the Pacers and gave them fits two games ago.