Pacers Report Cards: Grading every Pacers player's second-round performance
By Mueez Azfar
Obi Toppin
Stats: 7 Games, 18.7 MPG, 9.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 2.3 APG, 0.4 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 0.4 TOV, 1 FPG 57.4/43.8/80 Splits on 67.1% TS
In the Nesmith piece, I mentioned revenge against his former team possibly being on his mind for the Boston series. One guy who was perhaps looking for revenge against his old team was Obi Toppin, who was traded in the 2023 offseason for two second-round picks.
While Toppin's play was rather inconsistent, scoring as much as 20 points in Game 2 and as little as two points in Game 3, he showed up when his name was called and gave Indiana some nice bench production.
Additionally, Toppin played surprisingly decent defense on Jalen Brunson when switched onto him. Before the series, Knicks fans considered Toppin a defensive liability for his lack of lateral movement only to watch in shock as he kept up with the quick guard and helped contain him down the stretch.
As for shooting, Toppin provided some timely three-pointers down the stretch, going 4/7 from deep in the first two games and shooting 2/3 from deep in Indiana's Game 4 win to make up six of his 14 points. Toppin's play throughout the series was rather solid, as he gave Indiana some timely buckets down when they were needed and even gave the guys something to be excited for, as he had plenty of highlight dunks during the series, including the between-the-legs finish in Game 1, which, while coming in a loss, was still a highlight of the night.
It is worth to noting that, after the trade deadline, Toppin was considered the odd man out in Indiana's forward rotation, only to now be a key rotation piece in the playoffs and a piece Indiana will look to bring back for next season if they are smart.