Pacers 2018 Season Recap
The Indiana Pacers season ended on Sunday night, with a 105-101 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 7 of the first round of the NBA Playoffs. The loss certainly was disappointing for Indiana fans, especially considering the fact that the Pacers scored 40 more points than the Cavs over those same seven games.
While Pacers fans may have been left wanting more after Game 7, it’s important to remember that is exactly what this team gave us all season. Preseason predictions everywhere had the Pacers pegged for 30 wins and a one-way ticket to the NBA Draft Lottery. The prospect of a tank wasn’t far fetched, and it looked like dark times ahead in Indiana.
Then Victor Oladipo happened. The Hometown Hoosier came to town and had Indiana fans asking “Paul WHO???” just weeks into the season. Finally playing the role of stare, Oladipo stepped into the spotlight and blossomed into an All-NBA talent, averaging 23.1 points per game on 47.7% shooting, both career best by large margins.
Oladipo took four more shots per game than he did last season for the Thunder and was still able to improve his shooting percentages and efficiency numbers. He also had career bests in rebounds and assists, and led the league in steals with 2.4 per game.
Without Oladipo, the Pacers wouldn’t even have dreamt of grabbing the 5-seed in the East or winning 48 games or even making the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean his supporting cast wasn’t great as well. Domantas Sabonis also had a career year, and might even be a candidate for Most Improved Player if Oladipo hadn’t locked down the award months ago.
Sabonis averaged 11.6 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists, all nearly double his numbers from last season. Sabonis looked even better in the postseason, when he practically carried the Pacers for stretches. Sabonis did all of this while coming off the bench and splitting time at the center position with Myles Turner.
Turner’s numbers took a slight dip due to the new timeshare at the 5, and he also spent much more time on the perimeter offensively, making room for Oladipo to go to work at the rim. Turner still managed to get 1.8 blocks per game, which was good for fifth in the league. One area Turner definitely needs to improve on is rebounding, as he often seemed to be overpowered on the glass by the Cavaliers bigs in the postseason.
Fan favorite Lance Stephenson had his most consistent season since he left Indiana for Charlotte in 2014. Born Ready averaged 9.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists for the Pacers this season, and once again played the role of Thorn in LeBron’s Paw admirably this postseason.
Bojan Bogdanovic, Thaddeus Young, Cory Joseph and Darren Collison all had strong seasons for Indiana as well, which is something of importance considering they all could’ve been on the trading block if the Pacers season didn’t go as well as it did. Now, it looks like all four will return, if Young accepts his player option this offseason, and all should continue to play important roles for the Pacers next season.
Rookies TJ Leaf and Ike Anigbogu didn’t make much noise for the Pacers this season, and Leaf saw less and less game time as the season wore on. However, he did leave room for optimism in the final game of the season, soring 13 points in 21 minutes of play. Glenn Robinson III missed significant time due to a left ankle injury, so Pacers fans can look forward to his true return to form next season.
The Pacers played great basketball this season. They were fun to watch, and with their top eight scorers all likely to return for next season, hope abounds for next season as well. From where I'm sitting, it looks like the only place to go is up.