Indiana Pacers: Victor Oladipo advances in 2021-22 NBA playoffs

The Indiana Pacers traded Victor Oladipo during the 2020-21 season after having him for four seasons. He was their star, their closer, but then, he got hurt.

Victor spent four seasons with the Indiana Pacers, accumulating two all-stars and a most improved award in his tenure. Of Course, we all remember the Cleveland series.

Oladipo was traded to the Houston Rockets before taking his talents to south beach a few seasons ago. The 29-year-old has made it back to the playoffs after a long road of recovery.

Now with the Miami Heat, he has made it past the first round of the playoffs for the first time in his nine-year NBA career. The last time he was in the playoffs, he was a member of the Indiana Pacers as they got swept by the Miami Heat. That one was easy to forget.

Forgetting the seven-game series of Pacers-Cavs is not an easy one.

Oladipo was spectacular. In those seven games, he would average 22.7 points per game, 6.0 assists, and 8.3 rebounds while shooting 40.4% from deep on 8.1 attempts. It was a masterclass that is diluted due to the outcome of the series.

Game 5, three seconds left, an Oladipo layup, and you know the rest.

A coach’s challenge would have been nice in this moment, but they did not exist. Instead, Pacers fans get to think about what could have been if we go up 3-2 in that series, the Pacers play in Indiana with a chance to win it all. LeBron James, ugh.

A lot has happened to Oladipo since this game. The Pacers lost and then the Pacers lost him. He was traded and hurt again which made for a long process back to the court, dealing with a ruptured quadriceps tendon for the second time.

Victor is back to the floor now, currently a member of the Heat. How has he been in the few games he has played?

He has been awesome. If you were skeptical about his injury history, it seems that it is no longer a bother to him at this point.

This quickness and rim touch were what made Oladipo an All-Star, which he had lost in dealing with his first bout of recovery. That seems to be back and his confidence is seemingly rising.

I don’t recall Victor doing much celebrating after shots during the game (like Lance), but I think the excitement of him seeing that he is capable of what his All-Star self could do means a lot to him.

Celebrations like this after a really tough shot.

It is good to see him back to feeling like himself on the court after missing essentially two years of his NBA prime. I think him being back for the Heat can make them real title contenders, especially with Boston and Milwaukee having to battle each other in the second round.

Oladipo only appeared in eight regular-season games before the playoffs began, and didn’t play for the first three games of the series to a coach’s decision. That changed with the injuries to both Kyle Lowry and Jimmy Butler, the heat needed another scorer and Victor answered the call.

In his first game back, he scored just 6 points and 8 rebounds while going 3/10. Knocking some rust off for sure. However, that changed in the final game of the series when he posted 23 points on 8/16 shooting.

"“I remember a year ago today, around this time last year, I was sitting in a dark room by myself and just broke down. Not because I quit, but because I was at the lowest point I could be at. And now, God has put me in this position today so I just made the most of it”, Oladipo said."

The Heat will now face the winner of Philadelphia-Toronto which the 76ers are ahead in the series 3-2. Oladipo is someone I will always root for, but I can’t say the same for the Miami Heat. It has been great to see the return of Victor Oladipo and hopefully, he can get back to playing without worry as time continues.