Indiana Pacers cruise past Cleveland Cavaliers
By Ben Gibson
The Indiana Pacers didn’t dominate the Cleveland Cavaliers but they were always in control in their win on Saturday night.
The Victor Oladipo-less Indiana Pacers now have more wins than at three other NBA teams after beating the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night. The win puts them back in third place in the Eastern Conference with a 37-19 record.
And oh yeah, they also dodged a huge bullet in the from of a scare from Myles Turner when he landed awkwardly during the first half.
But the good news is Turner is fine and the Pacers are taking care of business against some fo the worst and most dysfunctional teams in the NBA.
Sure, you can only get so excited about a win over the Cavaliers (people were behind schedule for the 8p9s victory song) but this is what you’re supposed to do against bad teams, with or without your franchise player.
100. Final. 90. 156. 105
It will be hard for this team to get past the second round in the playoffs, and that’s even if they make it out of the first round. But if they can at least win enough to keep homecourt advantage, they can get more out of the season than we first expected after Oladipo went down.
This season isn’t lost, but it won’t be the same without Oladipo. But if the team’s young core of Turner, Domantas Sabonis, T.J. Leaf, Aaron Holiday, and Edmond Sumner can develop their game in their captain’s absence, that’s a win in itself.
And imagine what a round or two of playoff experience can do for them…
Myles Turner is evolving as an offensive player
When you put the ball in Myles Turner’s hands in give him the green light, the result is points. Turner reeled off 10 quick points in the first quarter. His confidence is there as he simply puts up shots and doesn’t hesitate to take the shots he once wasn’t so sure of.
Turner could stand to shoot more 11.7 attempts over the last 10 games, but the fact he comes away with 16.1 points on 53.8 percent shooting is encouraging. The higher workload hasn’t made him less efficient.
Turner doesn’t need to score 20+ points a game for the Pacers thanks to the defense he plays. But if he can score 15 or more while erasing plenty of the opponents’ potential points, then the Pacers can seriously compete with a version of Turner similar to what we see now.
Thankfully, Myles Turner’s knee is fine by all accounts
As mentioned before, Turner left the game at point while displaying the body language of a man who might be seriously hurt.
Thankfully, he scared himself more than hurt himself when he landed. I don’t think Pacers fans could have handled another player being lost for the season.
Turner might have some injury risks — he’s had a few things bothering him this season — but some things like his broken nose are just bad luck.
Bojan Bogdanovic remains slept on by most NBA fans
If he keeps this up, there’s a chance Bojan Bogdanovic will lead the team in scoring by the end of the season. Against the Cavaliers he scored 23 on 9 of 17 (52.9 percent) shooting frome the field and 3 of 7 (42.9 percent) from deep.
Since Oladipo went down, Bogdanovic is averaging 20.6 points a game. That ranks 36th in the NBA over that span. The man can score reliably, consistently, and efficiently.
Bojan added some wrinkles to his game this year and the results show in the way he can score both as a driver and a spot up shooter.
If he keeps this up, he will be rewarded in the offseason with a very nice contract.
A. Darren Collison manages to chase near double-doubles fairly often yet we hardly notice him. On Saturday he scored 18 points and had 9 assists in a quiet fashion. With Oladipo DC found his role complimenting their best player, but he managed to tweak it enough now that Indiana rely on him to help lead the way.<br />. PG. Indiana Pacers. DARREN COLLISON
SG. Indiana Pacers. TYREKE EVANS. B. Only 6 points for Evans, but he tallied 7 rebounds and 3 assists while playing in the flow of the game. There’s nights to knock him for his stats, but he simply played his part on Saturday.<br />
A. People were still calling him streaky. Now he leads the team in scoring nearly every night.<br />. SF. Indiana Pacers. BOJAN BOGDANOVIC
PF. Indiana Pacers. THADDEUS YOUNG. A. 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block for Thaddeus Young. It was one of those games where he isn’t leading with his play as much as he serves as the piece that holds Indiana together.<br />
Myles Turner is stepping up enough in Oladipo’s absence that we’re going to have to wonder how the Pacers make sure both get their shots in next seaosn.<br />. C. Indiana Pacers. MYLES TURNER. A
There’s that Domantas Sabonis, always messin’ around gettin’ doubel-doubles.13 points and 10 rebounds for him on Saturday despite not taking a shot in the first quarter.<br />. C. Indiana Pacers. DOMANTAS SABONIS. A
Indiana Pacers. EDMOND SUMNER. D. It was a bit of a struggle for Edmond Sumner with only a point, an assist, and a steal to his name. He remains an intruguing prospect but still needs more time to develop his game.<br />. SG
A. The lazy double-double of 10 points and 10 assists. Couldn’t even bother to stat chase any more than that while he nearly had the minimum triple-double as he fell one rebound short. Get it together, CoJo. Stop playing awesome defense and focus on chasing stats.<br />. PG. Indiana Pacers. CORY JOSEPH
B. Solid run from T.J. Leaf as he was a perfect 4 of 4 shooting for 8 points.<br />. PF. Indiana Pacers. TJ LEAF
Indiana Pacers. AARON HOLIDAY. C -. Aaron Holiday is fighting off his rookie struggles. He will eventually break through and do better than his 4 points, rebound, and a steal indicate.<br />. PG
NATE MCMILLAN. A. For all the times we complained about not using the rookies and sophomores, it seems Nate McMillan is letting them sink or swim out there.<br />. Head Coach. Indiana Pacers
Next. Pacers to sign Wesley Matthews. dark
The Indiana Pacers go for their fifth straight win when they face the Charlotte Hornets on Monday at 7 p.m.