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Thaddeus Young named Eastern Conference player of the week

ByBen Gibson|
INDIANA, IN - DECEMBER 12: Thaddeus Young #21 of the Indiana Pacers speaks with the media after the game against the Milwaukee Bucks on December 12, 2018 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)
INDIANA, IN - DECEMBER 12: Thaddeus Young #21 of the Indiana Pacers speaks with the media after the game against the Milwaukee Bucks on December 12, 2018 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)

After a week of doing it all for the Indiana Pacers, Thaddeus Young was honored with the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award.

The NBA is giving the most underrated player in the league some love today as Thaddeus Young won the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award. It’s the second time in his career he’s earned the award, though a first with the Indiana Pacers.

His résumé for the week lays out exactly why he won. Young nearly averaged a double-double with 18.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.8 steals last week. The veteran power forward shot 55.8 percent from the field on 52 shots while Indiana added four wins to their record.

Among the Pacers, no one was a more accurate shooter over the last four games. Young split the lead in rebounding with Domantas Sabonis while he was second in scoring only to Myles Turner‘s 20.3 points a game. He was second in steals to Victor Oladipo, who averaged 2.7.

But more impressive than his stats were the way he shut down Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks (while scoring 25 points) and then dropped 26 points against the Philadelphia 76ers in the next game. In both instances, the Pacers needed someone to step up on offense, so his points weren’t a luxury. When other players had their drives to the basket stopped, Young fould an angle to receive the pass and get Indiana easy points.

And in all four games, Young’s defense was a huge reason why Indiana won. Over that span, he dropped his opponents’ field goal percentages by over 9 percent. Perhaps more impressive was the nearly 16 percent drop in the 3-point percentage of his opponents.

We wouldn’t be forgiven if we forgot to mention some of the contributions that don’t show up in the standard box score. Young totaled 11 deflections and recovered the third-most loose balls with 10 through the four-game span. He led the league in charges drawn with 3 and contested the 15th most shots in that period.

With Young’s win this week, this makes the second time this season one of the Pacers won the award.

Needless to say, it’s been a good week for Thaddeus Young and the Indiana Pacers.

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