The second half of the Indiana Pacers loss to the Philadelphia 76ers exposed the fact they are in desperate need of a hero during “clutch” time.
The Indiana Pacers were in need of a hero on Sunday against the Philadelphia 76ers. But the help never came. After a Bojan Bogdanovic lay-up with 6:33 left in the third quarter, the Pacers went over 8 minutes without a field goal, a drought that stretched into the fourth quarter.
While most of that time doesn’t fit into a typical definition of “clutch”, there was the need for a basket during that period. Their defense kept the 76ers from closing the gap quicker, but without points, it’s pretty hard to hold a lead. As good as their defense was, the offense was a house of horrors.
It didn’t help that Indiana’s struggles kept going even once the field goal drought ended. From that 6:33 mark in the third, the Pacers shot 6 of 30 the rest of the way, with zero 3-pointers. Free throws did little to help either as they went 8 of 14 from there.
I’m not saying Victor Oladipo would have saved the day and the Pacers would have won, but the Pacers shooting wouldn’t have been quite so wretched.
Without Oladipo, Indiana went from the most clutch team in the NBA to one of the worst. These days, the Pacers are downright Knicks-ian when it comes to clutch time. The big difference, however, is New York is tanking, and the Pacers most certainly are not.
If coffee is for closers, the Pacers are out of luck
Oladipo is a one-man wrecking crew when it comes to his ability to create his own shot. That’s not a skill every NBA player has. Not only is Oladipo relaxed under pressure, but his skill set allows him to get himself enough of a look to bury a shot.
Oladipo can score in isolation (last season at least, he struggled this season), on pull-ups, in transition, and generally about anyway by himself. Even this season, he could at least break up streaks even if he didn’t have the same consistency.
The problem is, there isn’t really anyone on the rest of the roster that can score in that way. They have plenty of talented players, but most of them need set up to score.
For example, they have great spot-up shooters, but that implies someone is throwing them the ball in open space. That means someone had to distract the defense enough to create that opportunity. Wesley Matthews is killing it on these, but he needs help to make that happen.
Pick and rolls obviously are a two-man game, though Indiana finds success in them. And even then, Cory Joseph and Tyreke Evans just can’t get it done in the PnR game. The story is similar for Bojan Bogdanovic on screens in the fact they’re successful, but again, that’s a two-man operation.
If Indiana wasn’t struggling to deal with switches and other issues, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation, would we?
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Darren Collison and Bogdanovic can be pull-up shooters, but a sub-50-percent eFG% says that’s not something the Pacers should rely on. The Pacers aren’t scoring in isolation, either.
And if you were expecting the bigs to do such a thing, you’re looking in the wrong place. As good as Thaddeus Young, Domantas Sabonis, and Myles Turner are when they get rolling, it rarely is them freelancing.
If you haven’t noticed the trend here, the type of plays Indiana finds success in is more team-offense oriented. Oladipo was the one player that didn’t consistent help to score.
That’s why when the Pacers need points in clutch situations, they’ve been hard to come by without Oladipo this season. This doesn’t mean the rest of the roster is secretly bad and merely role players in disguise, but it does mean they aren’t the type of superstars that can get something out of nothing on an offensive possession.
And it is exactly why when games get tight, they’re unable to consistently score. While Nate McMillan certainly still belongs in the Coach of the Year discussion, the limits of his offense and ability to adjust on that end of the floor are also exposed in the process.
The Pacers need a hero, but at this point, it’s not likely they’ll find one on a consistently bad.