Pacers season highlights: Thad (literally) saves the Pacers in New York

As we wrap up our look back at the best plays of the Indiana Pacers season, we remember when Thaddeus Young quite literally saved the team in New York.

Many terms have been used to evaluate Thaddeus Young. “Glue guy”, “Consummate professional”, and “Mr. Consistent” come to mind, but there are many ways to describe what the Indiana Pacers captain brings to the team.

Usually, Thad is in the background, doing all of the minutiae and gritty things that are necessary for a team to win but aren’t as commonly discussed when talking about what makes a player good or bad. They are all important plays or necessary things to do, you just don’t notice them if you’re watching the ball.

But one night this season, Thaddeus Young had to step into the spotlight and operate on center stage, and he was up for the task.

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It was early in the season, very early, in fact. It was Halloween — the Pacers had only played 7 games so far and the organization was still feeling out how much talent the team had.

In lieu of trick or treating, Indiana spent their day in New York with a national TV matchup against the Knicks. Unlike the Pacers, the Knicks mostly already had a feel for the talent they had on the roster. They were bad and stumbled out to a 2-5 start. This should be an easy win for the blue & gold, and in front of a big audience.

That was supposed to be the script, anyway. But the Knicks weren’t having it. They decided to pick this night to show off what they could really do. At the game’s conclusion, they had shot 48% from 3 on 25 attempts and 87.5 percent from the free-throw line on 24 attempts. They were masterfully efficient, and that made them borderline impossible to guard.

Somehow, the Indiana Pacers were going to have to find a way to win. You can’t lose games to the Knicks early in the season and expect to be taken seriously as a contender. Yet entering the 4th quarter, Indiana found themselves down by 4 points. They needed a great final frame to get it done.

After 4 minutes went by in the 4th, and it was tied. 4 more minutes went by, and New York led by 1. That meant with 4 minutes on the clock, the Pacers were losing. To the Knicks.

Another minute goes by. The Knicks extended their lead to 3 with 180 seconds to go. Domantas Sabonis had stepped up, hitting 2 free throws to get to 30 points on his own in the game. But he would not be the hero in this game. Remember, this story is about Thaddeus Young.

Young would be the man with the cape. He peeled back the curtain and said “screw this. We are winning this game”.

With the Indiana Pacers up by just 1 point, they needed a bucket desperately. Remember earlier when I mentioned how well the Knicks were shooting the ball? The Pacers had to hold off that offense, meaning points were a necessity.

Thaddeus Young showed his teammates how it’s done:

A well-timed cut followed by a perfectly placed baby hook is about the most Thad Young clutch play of all time. He used his veteran acumen to pick on the younger Knicks and get points for Indiana when they needed it most.

Oladipo extended the lead for the Pacers 40 seconds later, but Sabonis fouled out of the game just moments after that. The exit for the Lithuanian big gave the Knicks a little momentum. New York hit both free throws to cut it to 4.

To keep the momentum going, Noah Vonleh blocked an Oladipo layup on the next possession. The Knicks went quickly down the floor and created an Alonzo Trier layup to cut the lead to 2. The Pacers were on the verge of choking. They needed Thad again.

What they really needed was Thad to be Thad. The Pacers looked sloppy on both ends. They needed Young to play solid D, make hustle plays, and win the 50-50 balls. In the final 30 seconds of the game, he did all 3, starting with this masterful play:

What. A. Play.

Bojan airballed the shot, but while the ball was in the air, Thad spent his time getting to the rim and getting into good rebounding position. When the shot was way short and flying out of bounds, he attacked it in an attempt to keep the possession alive.

Then, he had the presence of mind up in the air to turn and find Oladipo in the corner for a huge shot. That’s a big-time play from an unconventional big-time player. Immediately after on the broadcast, Jeff Van Gundy said: “Thaddeus Young has been the effort guy for Indiana all night long.”

It’s rare after a massively clutch shot for credit and recognition to be given to the passer and rebounder instead of the shot maker. But Thad’s effort warranted it.

And then, for good measure, he grabbed the rebound to put the game away:

That rebound wasn’t impressive or challenging. It was the basketball gods rewarding Young for working his butt off all game long. He deserved to pad his stats (that board got him a double-double) and secure the win.

Thaddeus Young finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds in this game, but it was his effort and success down the stretch that earned him an “A” grade from us on this night.  The Indiana Pacers don’t get this W without him.