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5 Things the Indiana Pacers should be thankful for

By Andrew Patton

INDIANAPOLIS - NOVEMBER 20: Aaron Holiday #3 of the Indiana Pacers participates during the "Come to Our House" event to celebrate Thanksgiving and to provide a meal for the homeless in Indianapolis at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on November 20, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and condition of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: 2019 NBAE (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS - NOVEMBER 20: Aaron Holiday #3 of the Indiana Pacers participates during the "Come to Our House" event to celebrate Thanksgiving and to provide a meal for the homeless in Indianapolis at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on November 20, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and condition of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: 2019 NBAE (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Thanksgiving weekend is here and the Indiana Pacers have reasons to celebrate. In the early portion of the season, there are five things the Pacers should be thankful for.

We are one month into the NBA season, and it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows for the Indiana Pacers. They have had to overcome a barrage of injuries while learning how to play with nine new faces on the roster.

Despite the adversity, the Pacers are trending in the right direction.

As we approach Thanksgiving, here are five things the Indiana Pacers should be thankful for:

1. Victor Oladipo’s rehab is progressing with no setbacks

Victor Oladipo is getting closer every day to returning to game action for the Pacers. Oladipo scrimmaged twice with G-League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, before going through a successful full scrimmage with the Pacers last week.

Oladipo had no limitations and has been progressing very well. Oladipo has no official timetable to return, but he could be back before the end of 2019.

Hopefully, at the latest, the team will have him to start the 2020 portion of the season.

2. Team chemistry

The Pacers started the season losing the first three games including their home opener and an embarrassing loss to the lottery-bound Cleveland Cavaliers. The Pacers offense was stagnant, the defense was non-existent, and turnovers were all too common.

Miraculously, by Game 4 against the Brooklyn Nets, everything came into place.

Players were communicating on the floor, gang rebounding and playing together as one. Most teams take much longer to build chemistry, and some teams never build the chemistry necessary to be an elite team.

More evidence of great chemistry was on display Monday night when T.J. McConnell buried a teardrop layup while falling to the floor at the end of the third quarter.

Oladipo, Jeremy Lamb, Alize Johnson, T.J. Leaf, and Edmond Sumner all jumped off the bench and swarmed McConnell with praise and appreciation.

You can’t teach great chemistry and that’s only one example of what has been displayed so far this season.

3. Surviving the injury bug

Oladipo, Lamb, McConnell, Sumner, Myles Turner, Domantas Sabonis, Malcolm Brogdon, Goga Bitadze, and JaKarr Sampson have all missed games due to injury.

The Pacers turned a negative into a positive by giving quality playing time to Aaron Holiday.

Holiday was racking up the dreaded DNP coach’s decisions early in the season but has flourished since given the opportunity to crack the rotation.

Holiday recently hit the game-winning three to beat the Orlando Magic. His brother Justin, received extended minutes due to the injuries and did not disappoint either.

Along with the Holiday brothers stepping up, two-way player Naz Mitrou-Long filled in admirably with Brogdan and McConnell lost to injury.

Mitrou-Long was a major key to victory, spearheading a game-changing run in the second quarter in Brooklyn.

Surviving the injury bug has improved the bench and allowed the Pacers to determine their identity sooner than anticipated.

4. 10-6 record

Considering all the adversity the Pacers have faced, they have a very respectable 10-6 record and currently hold the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.

They are only a half-game behind fifth-place Philadelphia, two games behind second-place Miami, and three and a half games behind first-place Milwaukee.

The Pacers are taking care of business at home as well.

They have a 7-2 home record with the only losses being opening night against the Detroit Pistons, and a loss to the first-place Milwaukee Bucks without the services of their top two point guards Brogdon and McConnell.

5. The fans

The Pacers’ relationship with the fans is mutually beneficial to both parties. The Pacers benefit from playing in front of a loud, loyal fanbase that loves basketball and loves its Pacers.

Pacers fans love watching their favorite team compete against the best basketball players in the world while representing their city and state.

It’s the fans buying tickets and merchandise that keeps the Pacers rooted in Indianapolis. The Pacers and fans both have the luxury of calling Banker’s Life Fieldhouse home too.

It’s a world-class facility that lead radio play by play man Mark Boyle calls, “the world’s greatest basketball arena.”

While there are many things that we are all thankful for, the Indiana Pacers would probably put the fans at the top of the list.

Next. 3 players who have kept the Indiana Pacers afloat in Oladipo’s absence. dark

The Pacers kick off the holiday weekend with a contest tonight against the Utah Jazz and former Pacer Bojan Bogdanović. Hopefully, the team and fans can be thankful for a win.

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