Victor Oladipo has played in just 13 games so far this year for the Indiana Pacers. Let’s take a moment to reflect and rank them all.
It remains to be seen whether we’ll get more Indiana Pacers basketball or clutch performances from Victor Oladipo this season.
Following a gruesome injury in January of 2019, Pacers fans had to go with no Oladipo for an entire year. He would make his debut coming off the bench at home against the Chicago Bulls on January 29 (more on that later). As if that weren’t enough, now Pacers fans need to go without any Pacers basketball whatsoever for an indefinite period of time.
We’re here through it all.
Prior to the hiatus, Oladipo played in 13 of a possible 18 games, held out of five games by lingering injuries, none all that serious.
If, indeed, the season is over for the Pacers and the NBA, this is all we will have gotten from Oladipo this year. Let’s hope that’s not the case, but the possibility the season is canceled due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19 within the league and to fans may force the NBA to take unprecedented and unexpected action.
Pacers fans really didn’t get to see their 2019-20 team in its final form. Oladipo being their best player, he was still finding his groove once the season was put on hold and it feels wrong for it to possibly be coming to an end this way.
Luckily, the front office has made some smart moves that keep the core intact for several years. Pacers fans can hold onto the fact that the roster holds a lot of certainty going into the future.
We still got 13 whole games from Oladipo, something to hold us over until the NBA resumes, whether it be this season or next season. Many of them were stellar performances that Indiana has come to expect from Oladipo since they received him in a trade from the Thunder.
Let’s take a look at the performances from Oladipo so far this season. We’ll go from the worst to the most vintage of showings from Oladipo, appreciating his growth in such a short period of time this year.
And by the way, NBA League Pass is offering a free trial while the league is suspended, and you can use that to go back and watch any of these games!
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.
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.
Getting better…
10. Loss to the Raptors, February 5 and 7
The Pacers had the extreme displeasure of facing the Raptors back-to-back, home-and-home with a day of rest in between right as the Raptors were reeling off an extremely impressive franchise-record streak of wins.
The Pacers lost by one in Toronto and then by nine on their home floor. Oladipo was looking more and more like his old self in these games, but still a bit timid in his role.
He put up 13 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists on February 5th. On the 7th he put up 15 points, 1 rebound, and 4 assists.
What was most encouraging with these two games is that he got his first road game in and continued to up his minutes (25 in the first game, 27 in the second).
8. Loss to the Nets, Februrary 10
A loss, but Oladipo put up 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. He was much like the games against the Raptors in this one. Still finding his shot, still figuring out his role and gaining his footing more and more.
7. Win over the Mavericks, March 8
With a chance to right the wrong that was the loss to Dallas in Oladipo’s third game back, the Pacers came away with a win on the road here.
Oladipo himself put up 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists. While he was 0-of-5 beyond the arc, he did his job. Oladipo tied for second-most in scoring on the Pacers, and helped the team win despite impressive 30+ point performances from both Tim Hardaway and Luka Doncic.
That’s the Victor Oladipo we love and know
6. Win over Milwaukee, February 12
A win over the best team in the East? You bet this is top-6.
Now, Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn’t playing in this one, but hey, just let us have this one, OK?
All five Pacers starters scored in double-digits this game, including Oladipo who had 13 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists. This would make four games in a row where Oladipo reached double-digit points.
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5. Win over the Blazers, February 27
A six-point win for the Pacers, and a 15 point, 7 rebound, 2 assist game from Oladipo. Further proof of the consistent efforts and the groove he is starting to settle into.
4. Loss to the Celtics, March 10
This would become the last Pacers game before the sudden hiatus. ‘Dipo left his mark before the season went to the break.
Victor put up 27 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. This is probably the closest an entire game has come to vintage Victor. While other games had better signature moments, Oladipo was hot from start to finish here.
This was also his best 3-point shooting game of the year so far, as he went 5-of-7 beyond the arc.
Had the Pacers won this one, this may be first or second on the list.
3. Win over the Cavaliers, February 29
To close out February, Pacers fans were gifted the best Oladipo performance to date. He would break his then season-high in points by putting up 19, complementing that with 3 rebounds and an assist.
2. Win over the Bulls, March 6
16 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists for Oladipo and a 6-point win for Indy. Oladipo was a +9 in this one, coming in second to Domantas Sabonis for points.
The Pacers had a wonky lineup for this one and had to see efforts from JaKarr Sampson and Edmond Sumner to get the W, but get the W they would.
1. Win over the Bulls, Oladipo’s return, January 29
In a vacuum, if you’re just looking at numbers and total impact, this shouldn’t be first on this list. Not even close. If you look at points scored, this is Oladipo’s 10th-best game this year. It was his 11th-best shooting performance. In terms of gamescore on Basketball Reference, it’s his 10th best game.
And maybe if the season had continued trucking along we wouldn’t hold this moment and its preciousness so closely, but given that basketball was snatched so suddenly from us, we tend to hold these games near and dear and miss the way they made us feel.
This was Oladipo’s first game back in over a year. His first time playing in front of the home crowd and the first time Pacers fans had gotten to see their star and some semblance of what this team could be all season long.
This was the moment Pacers fans anticipated all year long. An entire year of waiting and Oladipo did quite alright all things considered.
Then there was the final bucket, the moment that made this the best game from Oladipo.
This was a bold, deep bucket that very few players in this league have any business even trying. Even better, this was to tie the game and ultimately send it to overtime. It’s cold, but it’s exactly what we have come to expect from Oladipo, all in his first game back.
Here’s to more moments like this in the near future.