3 ways Tyreke Evans makes the Indiana Pacers better
By Ben Gibson
Tyreke Evans will go off a few times for the Pacers
Arguably, Tyreke Evans best stretch of the season game when he was coming off the bench.
In a six-game stretch in November, Evans averaged 24.3 points on 60.9 percent shooting, including 48.3 percent from deep. Obviously, that wasn’t something he could do all year, but it’s a reminder he can drop 20+ points in a hurry.
Now, he was playing starters minutes then, 32 a game, but it wasn’t as if he played WITH the starters for all of those minutes. Evans was creating opportunities for himself more often than not.
To cut Stephenson some slack, it didn’t help Indiana lost Glenn Robinson effectively for the season before it even started. Instead of getting to work with a competent shooter and defender, the second unit was relying heavily on Lance in the backcourt and wings.
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But that’s also why when you throw in the fact the entire bench improved, it is even more likely that Evans can maximize his time on the floor. He’ll have Doug McDermott, Kyle O’Quinn, Domantas Sabonis, and Cory Joseph to hold things down, as well as impressive rookies Aaron Holiday and Alize Johnson.
There will be nights where Tyreke catches fire and goes off for 30+ points as a reserve, or at least 20 or more. That’s something the bench didn’t always have last season. Stephenson had moments of greatness, but the odds are Evans will have more of them this season.
Tyreke Evans will save the day in a game or two (or a half-dozen or more) where the starters just don’t have it.
This leads to another reason to get excited about Evans…