Concerning signs for the Pacers pairing of Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner

Pairing Sabonis and Turner on offense

The main issue with the two-man lineup on offense should be a non-issue: spacing. There is absolutely no reason spacing should suffer from Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis on the floor.

If anything, Turner’s shooting should make the ideal partner for Sabonis, who can best make use of his interior scoring. Turner is a near 40 percent three-point shooter on decent volume and Sabonis should be shooting at least a few threes per game.

At times, the Pacers flashed this spacing and the offense ran smoothly. Catching the ball on the short roll, Sabonis has oodles of space to operate in. He could make a pass out to Turner spaced to the corner, but elects to take it himself and draws the foul:

For the majority of their time on the court, though, the spacing was suffocatingly poor. The Pacers operated the same way they always do, regardless of lineup, with one big in some action near the perimeter (PNR, PNP, DHO) and another in the dunker slot.

Needless to say, this alignment clogs the lane and makes good offense difficult.

Far too often, Turner would wander aimlessly into the lane on Sabonis post-ups, bringing help to the ball. Pick and rolls became less effective with players in the dunker spot and non-shooters on the floor.

Given Turner’s shooting ability and Sabonis’ shooting potential, space should never be an issue. It was too often, resulting in many difficult shots:

Look at this last clip, where at the moment Cory Joseph attempts to feed this pass through the defense, nine out of 10 players on the court are in the paint. Needless to say, this is not the ideal way to run offense:

The main advantage of playing Turner and Sabonis together is reaping the benefits of Domas’ offensive skillset. If fully realized, Sabonis could become a hybrid offensive weapon, with a valuable intersection of skills gleaned from modern perimeter-oriented bigs and throwback post domineers.

However, this criminal lack of spacing neuters Sabonis’ two most valuable abilities: passing and post-scoring.

As we saw in this series, Sabonis struggled to score down low. His ridiculous regular season efficiency plummeted in the playoffs, with his true shooting percentage dropping from 63 to an anemic 48.4.

Part of his struggles was due to the stifling defense of Al Horford and Sabonis’ lack of a right hand. The lack of spacing only compounded these issues. Even with a lack of consistent spacing, Sabonis still carved up Boston with his passing. His creation on the short roll is elite, spraying balls all over the court from the teeth of the defense:

Yes, this next play is sans Turner, but it’s a valuable look into the damage Sabonis can inflict with sufficient space. Running the PNP or spotting up on the wing, Sabonis’ passing and handling ability would help shred opposing defenses.

Combined with a potential shooting threat, Domas could be as lethal on the perimeter as he is on the block. Late in the shot clock, Horford commits hard to Sabonis’ shot, with no fear he will do anything but shoot. Sabonis’ passing is special, though, and he hits a cutting Tyreke for a wide open lay-up (which he predictably blows):

Here’s a rare example of great spacing leading to a wide open shot. In transition, Sabonis ducks into the block and his post-up gravity draws two defenders. He kicks the ball out to Turner right away and he can’t hit the open shot:

With great spacing, Sabonis’ countless dribble handoffs become even more effective. Cutters and shooters can run around him, confident Sabonis will find them in space. The left side is wide open here and I still have no idea how Sabonis thread this pass through the pinhole under Jayson Tatum’s outstretched arms:

Given Sabonis’ handle and Myles Turner’s improvements with the rock in his hands, the Turner-Sabonis 4-5 pick and roll could become a viable option for Indiana down the road.

There was a lid on the rim for much of this series, but Indiana can’t ask for a much better shot than this wide open pull-up mid, which could even be extended to behind the line:

The offense with Turner and Sabonis on the floor in the playoffs was awful. Part of this was due to their fit and part was due to missing shots the Pacers should hit. In its current state, the Turner-Sabonis pairing on offense doesn’t work. With a schematic alteration to provide more spacing and skill development from both of the twin towers, Sabonis and Turner could be effective on offense in the postseason.