Like the rest of the Indiana Pacers, Thaddeus Young is confident as his team heads into Game 3 with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Indiana Pacers believe they are in control of this series, and why shouldn’t they? Thaddeus Young is one of the many Pacers excited to get back home to Bankers Life Fieldhouse and take another shot at the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3.
“We took their best punch, and we were just a 3-pointer away from tying it up. Like we have all year, we showed a lot of fight at the end of the game,” Young said. “It would have been cool (to win), but it’s 1-1, and we’ve got a lot of momentum going our way coming home.”
A season ago, Cleveland swept Indiana in the tightest 4-game series in NBA history. The Pacers arguably gave the Cavaliers their toughest challenge in the Eastern Conference, but even from the outside, there was a lingering feeling that something was holding the team back.
That isn’t the case this season.
“I felt a lot more comfortable going into a series with the Cavs than I did last year,” Young said. “We had a lot of issues that we had to work out last year. A lot of uncertainty. Whether Paul (George) was going to stay, whether Jeff (Teague) was going to stay. How we were going to look the following year. That was over our head the whole season.”
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“This year, we don’t have any of that. Everyone is here and everybody is ready to go. Everybody believed from day one we could beat any team in the league, and we’ve done it,” Young said.
It’s a welcome change for Thaddeus Young. Thanks to all those issues that surrounded the team a season ago, the joy was robbed from the team in almost every win. The Pacers barely made the playoffs despite the talent on the roster, but many on the team were either mentally checking out or discouraged by the rumors that would affect their future.
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This team might have been on edge too as the trade deadline came, but a group of players approached Kevin Pritchard and asked to keep the team together. Pritchard listened, and Indiana rewarded the decision with a 48-win season.
Now, the focus is on beating the Cavaliers, and nothing else. Thaddeus Young isn’t worried about stats, his focus is on getting the most out of himself and his teammates.
“I’m an intangibles guy. A guy who does a little bit of everything, and I’m always there when you need me,” Young said. “In the end, it doesn’t matter if I’m a glue guy or anything, as long as I’m out there playing with my guys.”
McMillan called him the glue of the team before Game 2, a title Young accepts.
“I just look for consistency. It’s not about the things that show up in the stats. When I was on the court, what did I do as far as going out there defensively? Was I able to hold my guy down? Or was I able to do certain things like the intangibles?” Young said. “The steals, the rebounds, chipping in on blocked shots. Offense is going to come. I’ve always been a guy who didn’t need plays ran for me, I just play off my teammates and try to keep things together on the court.”
He may not worry about his stats, but he is shooting 70% from the field while averaging 7.5 points and 4.5 rebounds so far in the series. More importantly, Indiana has outscored Cleveland by 15 points when he is on the floor. As he said, it’s more about what he does for the team.
On offense, Indiana shoots its best as a team with him on the floor — and its worst off when he’s off it. The fact they are at their best when he is on the floor shouldn’t be too big of a surprise. His shooting range and physicality spread the floor while still giving Indiana needed muscle in the paint as needed.
Thad’s plays on defense often become Indiana points on the other end, much like the case with Victor Oladipo. One example of that came in Game 2 when he broke up a LeBron James lob intended for Kevin Love.
The ball caromed it’s way into Bojan Bogdanovic’s hands before Oladipo finished off the play with a dunk.
Young got credit for the steal on that play, but there are plenty of tipped passes or de facto rebounds sent towards teammates that don’t show up directly on his stat line. And with the Cavaliers not named LeBron shooting 39.1 percent from the field, it appears whatever Young and the Pacers are doing is working defensively
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Game 3 won’t be any easier than the last two games, but if Thaddeus Young remains the consistent force for good he has been all season for Indiana, then the Pacers might be leading this series by the end of the night.