The Indiana Pacers made it through most of November without Victor Oladipo and are still in the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference.
The Indiana Pacers finished up the first full month of basketball with an 8-6 record in November. Not overly impressive, but at the same time that’s still a winning record. And this did it with Victor Oladipo missing nearly half of those games.
Indiana’s had plenty of fast starts in the past — November always seemed to be Paul George‘s best month — but this year, despite being in the top four in the Eastern Conference, didn’t have the same luster.
Regardless of their record or how it is perceived, the Indiana Pacers are 13-9 and currently sitting in 5th place in the Eastern Conference. 5th place isn’t the goal, with their star player currently out of action, things certainly could be worse.
Speaking of playing without Victor Oladipo…
The Indiana Pacers won without Victor Oladipo for the first time
Not counting the partial game against the Atlanta Hawks, the Pacers went 3-3 without Victor Oladipo. Compared to last season’s combined 0-7 record without their star, this is a major improvement for Indiana.
It helped they faced the Utah Jazz (twice) and the Phoenix Suns in those wins, but at least in the losses, they often had the excuse of road weariness.
But what mattered more than the schedule was Indiana’s depth. Injuries exposed some of the Pacers’ weaknesses, but it also showed how some of the offseason additions could keep things afloat.
While Tyreke Evans overall performance in Oladipo’s absence left much to be desired, he also wasn’t so horrifically bad that he signal-handily sunk the Pacers. A few particularly bad stretches by the starters helped give him (and Darren Collison and Thaddeus Young) negative net ratings, they showed they weren’t entirely incapable of working without Oladipo.
Perhaps avoiding one of those starts in Los Angeles might have resulted in a win, but even without that, it was a much less troubling experience for the Pacers with their franchise player in street clothes.