The Indiana Pacers pulled off an amazing victory over the Boston Celtics thanks to more late-game heroics from Victor Oladipo.
In a game most people would’ve expected the Indiana Pacers to lose, Indiana dug deep and found a way to keep it just close enough for yet another dramatic, heroic ending to transpire at the hands of Victor Oladipo.
The Pacers were on night two of a back-to-back, while Boston had the day off yesterday. But it did not matter in the end, as Indiana withstood everything the Celtics threw their way and started their three-game homestand on a high note.
Victor Oladipo, just like last year: pic.twitter.com/EprXiplXyM
— Tony East (@TonyREast) November 4, 2018
It’s Victor’s city, and we’re all just living in it
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Victor Oladipo won the game for the Pacers tonight on an outrageously clutch three-point shot to steal the game away from the opposition. It seems no amount of pressure is too much for the Pacers’ all-star guard, who always seems to step-up huge in moments like tonight’s.
The Pacers’ bench continues to be huge this season
The reserves for the Blue and Gold tonight put up a healthy 37 points, which was extremely important on night two of a back-to-back. When a team plays two games in consecutive days, it typically leads to tired legs and short shots when players start to run out of gas in the second half. Thankfully, this didn’t happen tonight thanks to the bench being able to come in, give the starters a breather, and hold down the fort for as long as they were needed. Boston’s bench scored 39 points themselves, so if Indy’s didn’t perform this well in this game, the Celtics likely would have left Indianapolis with a victory.
Free throws made the difference
In a game where Boston added 8 more made three-point baskets than the Pacers, Indiana had to find other ways to give themselves an advantage in this one. They found their edge on the free throw line tonight, where the Pacers added 19 points as opposed to Boston’s 6. The Pacers did a marvelous job of drawing fouls and capitalized by making 76% of their foul shots, which is good for them lately.
The Pacers stay at home for their next matchup Monday night at 7:00 PM against James Harden and the Rockets. Houston has underperformed so far this season, but they’ve had some injury issues that have held them back thus far. On Monday, they expect to have Harden, Paul, and Anthony all healthy and ready to go. The Pacers will have to be on their “A Game” in this one.