Indiana Pacers need a plan more than riding the hot hand

Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner both played one of their best playoff games in Game 4, but playing the hot hand isn’t as important as sticking to a plan.

Every play, every decision, and every moment from the Indiana Pacers loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 4 is under scrutiny. Now, the series sits at 2-2. One of the biggest resolutions to be discussed will be the choice of taking Domantas Sabonis out of the game and replacing him with Myles Turner.

The difficulty of coach Nate McMillan’s choice was compounded by the fact both were having the best playoff games of their careers. Sabonis finished the game with 19 points and Turner finished with 18. Both shot over 75 percent from the field.

McMillan almost always stuck with the hot-hand in the fourth quarter this season to the point where Sabonis played almost half as many minutes as Turner with the starters in fourth quarters this season. Some of that came from Turner’s injuries, but McMillan never hesitated to leave Sabonis in the game down the stretch.

While Turner wasn’t struggling in the game, Sabonis was on the court for 18 minutes straight and the Pacers went on a 6-0 and 5-0 run while he was in. But it isn’t as easy as just pointing the finger at Turner, because the Cavaliers were starting their 12-3 run that won them the game as Sabonis left the court.

But the more you look at the numbers and tape, the more it appears that it wasn’t directly on either center. A lack of planning beyond asking Victor Oladipo to makes things happen was a bigger factor or at least creating a situation where he had to make something happen.

Oladipo was the hero many times this season for the Pacers, but late in the game, he appeared to have tunnel vision (or poor communication) with Sabonis and others. The screens that worked in the third quarter weren’t producing the same results later in the fourth.

It’s hard to overly criticize Oladipo for trying to win the game, but he wasn’t using screens that well in the fourth, even with Sabonis on the floor.

On this play, Sabonis ends up in a bit of no man’s land as he doesn’t know whether to set the pick or not. Worse still he ends blocking a passing lane to Cory Joseph as Oladipo drives. That looks to be more of Oladipo’s issue as he put Sabonis in a bad spot, but it might not have matter once to decided to drive to the basket where all five Cavaliers stood right beside the paint.

Oladipo scored one basket off a Turner screen later in the quarter, but of his two made field goal once Turner re-entered, the other was a desperation 3-pointer in the games final seconds.

Indiana had a total of 10 shots after the clock dipped below 4:47, but they only managed to make 3 of them. Thaddeus Young scored the other as Larry Nance Jr.’s poor defense opened up the door for an easy dunk. Of the seven missed shots, almost all were heavily contested.

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Things had gone so well with Sabonis in the game, making the decision to pull him questionable. If they had made an effort to get Turner the ball, it might have made more sense, but as Caitlin Cooper of Indy Cornrows pointed out, Indiana didn’t make an effort to get the ball in Turner’s hands.

Domas’ understanding of the space on the court was why Indiana got back into the game in the first place. He hits his screens and finds the sliver of room needed to score or at least pull his defender away from the ball handler. He wasn’t good earlier in the series, but he had it going in this instance.

But more than anything else, it’s just playoff inexperience, and that leads to these mistakes. A lack of communication puts Sabonis in the wrong place. When that happens, Oladipo is left feeling like he must make something happen. That play was one of the more obvious examples, but for as long as it took for the Pacers to slide up release valves when Oladipo was trapped, it’s clear not everything is clicking like it should.

Maybe Sabonis should have stayed in the game because of the way he can handle the 4 on 3 situations after Oladipo is trapped, but ultimately Indiana needs to get on the same page as far as a game plan. There wasn’t much of a point of bringing in Turner if you aren’t getting the ball to him, or at least running a more cohesive pick and roll.

Sabonis, Turner, whoever. These are growing pains more than some flaw that will doom the Pacers. Indiana needs to show more offensive versatility late in games (perhaps letting Darren Collison and Turner attack?), but simply hoping Oladipo will rescue them won’t win them this series.

Next: The Pacers should be worried but not discouraged

Oladipo isn’t the villain here, nor it McMillan, but as a team, there must be better execution. The game is going to slow down late, forcing Indiana into more halfcourt situations. It’s up to them to make the most of them instead of turning the ball over on a shot clock violation. In a game where one more basket might have tipped the balance, Indiana can’t be their own worst enemy.

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