Bojan Bogdanovic reminds the Indiana Pacers he can get buckets – and the team needs more
By Ben Gibson
The Indiana Pacers needed an offensive outpouring from Bojan Bogdanovic to beat the Miami Heat. They’ll need more of that to stay in the playoff picture.
The Indiana Pacers just needed a win. The shadow of finishing the season without Victor Oladipo still loomed as their four previous losses marked the longest losing streak since 2017. But someone needed to step up as they took on the Miami Heat, and it turned out that person was Bojan Bogdanovic.
It was Bojan that contributed nearly a third of Indiana’s final score with 31 points on 13 of 19 shooting. He dropped in 9 of those from beyond the arc (3 of 7) but he also caused the Heat problems by attacking the rim. Sometimes it was more subtle as a number of back cuts left Miami looking at each other trying to figure out how the Croatian small forward snuck past them once again.
And again, the team is still sorting itself in this season’s post-Oladipo era, so Bogdanovic leading the way was far from a luxury. It was a necessity for the Pacers if they want to hold on to a decent playoff spot or get back into the fight for homecourt advantage.
The Indiana Pacers need more of this from Bojan Bogdanovic
Bojan Bogdanovic is having the type of season that gets you to decorate your kitchenware with his likeness.
Bojan Bogdanovic is averaging a career-high 16.3 points with the Indiana Pacers this season, but they still need more. That average jumps up to 18.1 in games without Oladipo, but even with him shooting 43.9 percent from beyond the arc and 47.4 percent from the field, Indiana still needs more.
It isn’t easy because Bogdanovic can’t replicate the pick-and-roll action of Oladipo, nor can anyone else on the roster, but Bojan still must figure out how to score more. The Pacers getting more shots for Myles Turner might help spread the floor out more and take pressure of Bogdanovic, but he still bears the scoring load now for the Pacers. He needs to put in a few more points every game.
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The Pacers are still likely to make the playoff barring an unimaginably bad finish to their season, but if they want to do more than be a “what could have been” story from this season, Bogdanovic must continue to get buckets.