The Indiana Pacers played defense like trash, both in quality and physically, leading to a win for the Philadelphia 76ers.
“Our defense was trash,” Thaddeus Young said after the Indiana Pacers humbling loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, but it wasn’t just their defense that deserves a spot in a landfill (after proper recycling, you savages.)
Indiana’s offense put up their 5th worst shooting night of the season as Darren Collison, Victor Oladipo and Bojan Bogdanovic combined to go 12 of 41 (29.3%) from the field. Indiana’s starters struggled to contain the 76ers offense while failing to get anything going on their own — save for Thaddeus Young.
Tonight could have been a statement for the Pacers, but now they not only have to deal with a shot at their ego, they now need to win these two teams’ next meeting to split the season series. In another tight playoff race in the Eastern Conference, the tiebreakers might decide who gets a tough matchup with the Boston Celtics in the first round.
It’s only one game, but it’s one game Indiana that could have a big effect on their playoff potential once April rolls around.
Do the Philadelphia 76ers have the Indiana Pacers number?
It’s easy to look at Indiana’s 40.2 field goal percentage from the game and excuse it as a bad night. But the 76ers have kept the Pacers shooting under 44.2 percent in each matchup.
Oladipo’s FG% against Philly is a troubling 37.9 percent, while Indiana’s other leading scorer, Bogdanovic, is shooting 37.9 but balancing it out by making 38.9 percent of his 3-pointers. It seems clear that they’ve figured out how to stop the two of them from being effective and in the process, stifled Indiana’s entire offense.
Thaddeus Young steps up, but Myles Turner must take more shots
Thaddeus Young dropped 27 points on 11 of 17 shooting (64.7 percent) and a perfect 3 of 3 from deep. It clearly wasn’t enough and a by-product of the 76ers defense on Vic and Bogey, but Young at least stepped up his game to fill the void as much as he could.
The 76ers neutered the Pacers pick and roll game, leading to a lack of shots for Myles Turner. While he certainly had more than the five chances he took, it was disappointing he didn’t find a way to get more. Obviously, Oladipo plays a roll in that, but Indiana might be able to weather the storm better if they can get the ball into Turner’s hands more.
Foul trouble was the obvious issue last time, but Indiana isn’t likely to win if Turner is shooting 31.6 percent and taking less than 10 shots against the 76ers.
Bench performance was sub-optimal
Tyreke Evans needing 14 shots to score 13 points is about par for the course, but Cory Joseph was efficient in his 8 points on 4 of 6 shooting. However, with Doug McDermott struggling, Domantas Sabonis needed to do more than just 6 points and 8 rebounds.
In theory, Indiana’s bench goes deeper than Philadelphia’s, but the two sides fought to a draw on Thursday.
If Indiana wants to split the season series, they’ll need more from their reserves (and starters) when they meet again in March.
The Pacers host the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday at 7 p.m. Say hello to Kyle Mann if you see him there.