Ranking each of Victor Oladipo’s games for the Pacers this season
By Josh Wilson
The duds
13. Loss to the Knicks, February 1
Losing to the Knicks is probably one of the lowest points any NBA team could hit in the 2019-20 season.
The Knicks presently are 21-45 and have the second-worst offensive rating in the NBA. So when the Pacers lost to the Knicks by seven to kick off Februrary, yeah, not great. Especially when the Pacers are vying for homecourt advantage in the playoffs.
As for Oladipo, we need to remember that this was just his second game back from injury, an injury that kept him out for quite some time. Propelled by adrenaline in his first moments back on the court, he likely was experiencing some sea legs a bit more in this matchup and finding his footing more.
He put up a statline of 7 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists on 14.3 percent shooting from the field. He was 25 percent from beyond the arc and 2-of-2 at the line. He took care of the ball, turning it over just once.
In general, just a standard “getting the ryhthym back” game.
12. Win over the Knicks, February 21
The Pacers got back over the Knicks in this one, beating them by eight points on their own floor.
Victor had 8 points, 3 rebounds, and an assist. He turned the ball over 3 times.
What makes this one better than the other Knicks game is firstly the win, secondly the shooting. Oladipo shot 37.5 percent from the field in this one.
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11. Loss to the Mavericks, February 3
For Oladipo, 9 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists. 23.5 percent shooting, 10 percent from beyond the arc (1-of-10). No turnovers, though!
When you consider that the Mavericks outrebounded the Pacers by 11, though, and that many of those likely came off of Oladipo misses, it’s tough to see the lack of turnovers in a positive light.
Again, context is everything. This was Oladipo’s third game back, and his minutes had been increasing in each game including this one.
While it’s easy to look at this one and go, “OK, the Mavs are a good team,” keep in mind that Luka Doncic did not play.
OK, these were tough. But they should be expected from a player getting back into the flow of things after a full year off with recovery included in that. In fact, this slide having just three games to discuss is a really positive mark.
Let’s move onto some more positive performances.