In what was a snoozer of a win over the Atlanta Hawks, the Indiana Pacers reminded us why they are so damn likable this season.
Glenn Robinson III is back. The Indiana Pacers beat the Atlanta Hawks 116-93. Domantas Sabonis led the way with 21 points and 13 rebounds while Thaddeus Young backed him up with 20 points of his own.
This is all you need to know about the facts of this game, but I’m here to tell you what made it special. This team loves each other. They have the chemistry that Pacers fans looked for the pacers 4 of 5 years. This team is special, no matter where this journey ends.
Things like chemistry are both overestimated and underappreciated and often misunderstood. Great teams don’t even need to talk to each other off the court to be successful. It certainly helps when they do, but talent can make up for many deficiencies.
But this Pacers team is simply special. They love playing with each other, or as Quinn Buckner says, for each other.
There was no better representation of that than when Cory Joseph went down after a foul, and seemingly the entire Pacers team came to get him up.
What a steal by Cory Joseph!
— Bally Sports Indiana (@BallySportsIN) February 24, 2018
The #Pacers and #Hawks are playing on FSI and FSGO right now. pic.twitter.com/D1GxEVWiEq
Something like this can get overstated, but this team wasn’t supposed to be this good. They were told they were a lottery team, hell, we believed they were, too. They were not enough of a return on trades. They were band-aids for a rough season.
They proved everyone wrong. They’ve already beat the 31.5 win predicted for them. They’re a lot more fun than Zach Lowe expected them to be, too.
More from 8 Points, 9 Seconds
- 2 Studs, 1 dud from gut-wrenching Indiana Pacers loss to Charlotte Hornets
- Handing out early-season grades for Pacers’ Bruce Brown, Obi Toppin
- 3 positives, 2 negatives in Pacers In-Season Tournament win vs. Cavaliers
- 2 positives, 3 negatives from first week of Indiana Pacers basketball
- Should Isaiah Jackson’s days with Indiana Pacers be numbered?
All of that just might just be why it’s so obvious they’re enjoying themselves. That might be why it’s clear that chemistry is possibly their greatest attribute as a team.
The Good: Thaddeus Young and Domantas Sabonis carried the team statistically on Friday. Their combined 41 points came on an 18 of 29 (62.1%) performance. That included a pair of 3-pointers from Young.
MVP: Not just because it’s the theme of the article, but this really was a team effort. The points from Thad and Domas led the way, but Joseph, Victor Oladipo, Lance Stephenson, and Bojan Bogdanovic had 54 points between the three of them.
Even though Myles Turner only had 7 points, his 8 rebounds and his defense made sure the Hawks didn’t get extra opportunities. Joe Young drained a pair of 3-pointers, too.
X-Factor: Glenn Robinson III is back and his shooting and defense are hopefully back as well. He was a neutral presence with only 4 points and 2 rebounds, but this was his first game since April.
Next: The NBA's new boxout stat
The Pacers have the weekend off before facing the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.