Indiana Pacers: Handing out team awards for the 2021-22 season
By Zach Pearson
The awards for sixth man and defensive player are a tricky one in Indiana this season. The team saw a ton of roster turnover and their defense was one of the worst in the entire league.
They were 28th in defensive rating this season.
Indiana Pacers team awards: Lance Stephenson wins sixth man of the year
Lance Stephenson is Pacers basketball. Him joining the team this season is what made it enjoyable for some fans who love the era of Pacers basketball that was so good in the early 2010s.
Lance played in 40 games for the Pacers this season and only made one start in those games. Indiana lost a lot of games this year, but fans were showing up to see Lance give them a show when the team played at home.
To me, Lance gets this honor simply because he did what no other player has done in NBA history. That would be scoring 20 points in the first quarter after coming off the bench. He did it in just over four minutes of play.
He averaged 18.2 minutes per game which is the highest it has been since he was last in a Pacers uniform back in 2017-18.
His averages this season were 9.3 PPG and 3.9 APG while shooting 45.8% from the field.
Myles Turner wins defensive player of the year
In the 42 games Myles was able to play, there was no question he was the team’s best rim protector. He was even the league’s best posting 118 total blocks and finished at 5th in the league while tying with three other players.
Each season Myles seems to improve and this year was no different. He was a force defensively and even made improvements to his post game offensively when he was allowed space inside.
I think there was a shot fall off due to the stress reaction in his foot that sidelined him for the year, but he was pretty good to start the year. He shot 41.2% from deep in his first 10 games.
When he is on the floor, teams sit at a 112.2 Offensive rating, and when he isn’t there that number is 119.3 which is a substantial jump.
He averaged 12.3 PPG and 7.1 RPG while shooting 50.9% from the field and 33.3% from deep. That is his lowest three-point percentage since his rookie season.
If you watch the Pacers, you that Turner is the defense as it stands right now. He will continue to chase DPOY from the league.