Pacers Report Cards: Grading every Pacers player's first-round performance
By Mueez Azfar
Final thoughts and grade
First Round Stats: 4-2 Record, 113 PPG, 110.2 PAPG, 120.1 ORTG, 117.1 DRTG, 43.8 RPG (10.3 O and 33.5 D), 30.2 APG, 4.5 SPG, 4.5 BPG, 9 TOV, 19.3 FPG 47.9/34.4/71 Splits on 57.6% TS
As for the whole team, it's very clearly a high grade. Despite playing terribly in Game 1, every player's jitters were essentially gone afterward, and they went on to have a great series. Looking at Indiana's playoff stats compared to their regular season stats, they match up pretty well, which is surprising to those who thought the Pacers' high-octane style would not work in the playoffs.
While being a great transition team, the Pacers also used players such as Pascal Siakam's ability to slow down the game to their advantage, creating easy buckets in isolation and post-up situations.
As for the weaknesses, the entire team essentially struggled with three-point and free-throw shooting, with Game 5 being another black mark on an otherwise great series. After shooting the lights out in Game 4, Indiana came back to life a bit, shooting only 31% from deep and a putrid 61% from the charity stripe in Game 5, leaving plenty of easy points on the table as well as missing open jumpers they would otherwise make.
Outside of Myles Turner, Andrew Nembhard, and Ben Sheppard, every Pacer who played substantial minutes shot under 31% from deep in the series, and three Pacers shot under 70% from the free-throw line as well. However, a lot of this can be chalked up to first-game jitters, as Indiana shot 21% from deep played a large role in their subpar three-point percentage for the entire series.
In the end, a series win is still a series win. Although it may have been stretched one game too long, the Pacers still got it done on their home court and advanced to the second round, This is an incredible achievement for a young team, with many getting their first taste of playoff action, and from the looks of it, they are not done.
Only two or so years into the rebuild, the Pacers are already ahead of schedule with a solid young core as well as a veteran star to lead them through the rough patches. The future is bright in Indiana and it continues on Monday against the New York Knicks.