Indiana Pacers bench upgrades on display in win over Memphis Grizzlies

It’s only one game, but the Indiana Pacers bench showed the upgrades are working in their win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Tyreke Evans and Doug McDermott didn’t look like upgrades in the preseason, but they showed exactly why the Indiana Pacers added them to the roster in their win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Domantas Sabonis dropped in a double-double (14 points, 15 rebounds) while Cory Joseph did his usual routine of defending the hell out of things and finding a few baskets here or there.

It’s only one game, but this is what the Pacers were hoping for when they signed Evans and McDermott to help out Joseph and Sabonis. Instead of wondering if whether Good or Bad Lance Stephenson was present, Indiana has a group of guys that at worst are of fringe starting talent.

There was hardly any difference in effectiveness between Indiana’s bench and starters. Outside of steals and 3-point shooting, the Pacers had more points, assists, blocks, and shot the ball better the Grizzlies starting unit.

After running a Thibs-ish rotation of minutes last season, The Pacers relied heavily on the bench in their first game, racking up the most bench minutes in the league’s opening games.

Lance was a fan favorite, but the new bench unit will help ease the pain of those still bitter about the Pacers letting him go.

A bigger and better bench for the Indiana Pacers

One asset the Indiana Pacers bench can leverage this season is size. While Joseph is 6’3, McDermott, Evans, and Sabonis are over the 6’6 mark. While Evans or McDermott aren’t great defenders, they aren’t giving up size to their opponents. It helps too that both aren’t slow on their feet, either.

The most used bench lineup on Wednesday included those four and Thaddeus Young, a 6’10 power forward. With that much height, it is hardly surprising they grabbed the lion’s share or rebounds — 73.9 percent — when they shared the floor.

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It helps on offense too as we saw Young take advantage of mismatches by posting up smaller players like Ryan Anderson. Thad was +15 in those bench-heavy stints as he set up shop in the paint.

Sabonis and Evans ran the pick and roll heavily to get possessions rolling and set up their teammates. Domas displayed the basketball IQ he is known for by switching up picks when the Grizzlies were aggressive and finding space to do his damage when given it.

Tyreke’s ability to attack the basket while finding his teammates for a team-high six assists opened up the floor for Sabonis and the rest of the bench combined to shoot 58.1 percent from the floor.

Evans also showed an Oladipo-like ability to push the pace offensively as he, Young, and Sabonis combined for 12 of the team’s 20 fastbreak points.

Their size won’t always be as easy to deploy and opponents’ lineups can force the Pacers’ hand, but when they can Indiana won’t be struggling to find a combination that can beat down on smaller opponents.

Even when they can’t do that, McDermott’s shooting can space the floor while all of them are threats from beyond the arc. While McBuckets and Evans were a combined 2 of 10 from deep, both showed they know other ways to score.

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It is only one game of course, but the Pacers are seeing what they expected from their bench upgrades. There are plenty of challenges ahead for Indiana to work out, of course, but Indiana got what it wanted and needed from their offseason signing.

If Evans and McDermott continue to contribute, the game opens up for everyone as we saw on Wednesday. No one player is required to carry the weight by themselves. In a game where Victor Oladipo struggled early on, the reserves were building a lead and allowing him to rest.

Next. 3 takeaways from the Indiana Pacers opening night. dark

Not every night is going to play out this way for the Pacers. They will struggle at times, but the bench showed the season opener exactly what they are capable of.

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