Key moments from T.J. Warren’s first season with Indiana Pacers

T.J. Warren flashes ability as lead offensive man against Charlotte

Another one of Warren’s big moments in the 2020 season came at the hands of the Charlotte Hornets once again.

On this occasion, Warren visited Charlotte for the first time in the blue and gold and took on the Hornets amid the Pacers winning their previous three straight. Coming into this game, Warren had averaged 19 points per contest against the Hornets in six games while with the Phoenix Suns.

Going into the game, the Pacers had lost five of their previous six matchups against the Hornets and a team-high 33-point effort from Warren wasn’t enough as Indiana would go on to lose by two in overtime to Charlotte.

The silver lining in the loss was Warren’s ability to step up and lead the Pacers offensive scoring load as Indiana played without Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis.

Shooting 15-18 from the field, Warren and Malcolm Brogdon led the Pacers to a 15-point lead with the two guards combining for 15 first-quarter points.

Warren attacked Charlotte’s defense and worked the majority of his scoring load inside the paint with seven of his converted shot attempts coming inside the paint. Warren went 2-2 from behind the arc and 5-5 from the field in the third quarter.

While this may have been Warren’s first contest against Charlotte in a Pacers uniform, this was one of the first glimpses of him shaping into a reliable defender for Indiana. In his four games as a Pacer against the Hornets this season, Warren allowed just 34 percent shooting from Hornets players from beyond 15 feet while relying on Sabonis and Turner in the paint as rim protectors.