Center Fridays: The big men have that mid-range money

The Pacers big men have been struggling to shoot the three-pointer. Thankfully, they have still been able to space the floor thanks to great mid-range shooting.

Spacing is something that each and every NBA team is striving to have. Getting more and more good shooters on the court so that there is ample space for guards to dribble and attack allows offenses to be potent and effective. The Pacers big men haven’t been great shooting the three, so it would appear that the pleasantry of spacing is something that Indiana would lack. However, thanks to some terrific mid-range shooting, the Pacers big men are able to space the floor without much of a deep ball at all.

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Frankly, the three-point shooting from the centers has been underwhelming. Al Jefferson, Ike Anigbogu, Domantas Sabonis, and Myles Turner and a combined 43/125 (34.4 percent) from deep this season. For centers, that is not awful. But if you want to space the floor, those are number are essentially useless.

Thankfully, the bigs are making their living in the mid-range. For Turner, it has been more about the longer mid-range shots. For Jefferson, it has been about shorter ones. Those guys are able to space the floor effectively in their minutes.

For Sabonis and Anigbogu, the goal isn’t to space the floor; they are more rim running centers who make their bread and butter rolling to the basket on offense. For this exercise, let’s focus on Turner and Jefferson.

For Turner, the eye test catches how he spreads the floor, it is done in the pick and pop. Look at this play how there are no players in the lane when Turner rises up and shoots:

That is Turner’s bread and butter on offense, this isn’t news. He’s shooting 52.7 percent on long two points jumpers, an insane percentage for anyone, but especially someone of this size.

This shot is what Myles to space the floor for the rest of the offense. When Turner plays, the Pacers shoot 63.4 percent in the restricted area. When he sits on the bench? 62.2 percent. That 1.2 percent dip in team shooting around the basket is a testament to how Myles can space the floor.

Take this play for example. Turner is retreating out to the short quarter, so it seems like he is doing nothing, but in reality, he is having an impact on the play. When Bojan Bogdanovic does his drive, Ivan Rabb is afraid to leave Turner open for the jump shot, so he doesn’t slide over and play help defense. That leaves the lane wide open for Bogdanovic, even without Turner being behind the three-point line:

Turner’s impact clearly goes beyond his shooting percentage, but can the same be said for Jefferson?

Kind of, but not to the same extent. For starters, his offensive rating is 106.7, which ranks 10th on the team. His offensive impact isn’t nearly as big as Myles, and in a related manner, his mid-range shot doesn’t space out the court as effectively as Turner’s does.

But it still helps.

The Pacers are shooting 62.4 percent from five feet and in with Jefferson on the court vs 61.2 percent with Jefferson off, granted the sample size of shots with him off the court is about three times as large. Some of this bump in percentage comes from Jefferson himself, an extremely efficient inside scorer, but some come from the floor spacing his newfound mid-range jumper offers.

Jefferson’s 61.8 percent shooting from 10-16 feet is far and away the highest number both on Indiana and of his career. In fact, his second best season from this distance was 42.8 percent shooting. He is almost 20 percent higher than that. He has suddenly developed a silky smooth jumper from mid distances, and his form and mechanics make it repeatable on a game by game basis:

So that’s new, and also incredibly helpful.

It’s not nearly as noticeable since Al is never far from the basket, but since he is shooting such a high percentage this season, opponents are afraid to leave him. That makes them a step late in their rotations like Karl Anthony-Towns is here, and it allows other Pacers to score:

Its weird to see defenders glued to Al Jefferson 10 feet from the basket, but here we are!

Sabonis and Anigbogu, by nature of being more screen setting and basket-attacking centers, don’t have this effect. But that’s okay! They impact the offense in other ways that don’t require as much spacing, like passing in Sabonis’ case and catching lobs in Anigbogu’s.

Next: Post-Game Grades: Pacers survive scary second half, beat Celtics in Boston

In an era where analysts and front offices are obsessed with floor spacing, it is nice to see that the Pacers centers can supply it in unconventional ways. This spacing is all contingent on the mid-range shot continuing to be a weapon, so let’s hope that stays the case.