Pacers Return to Winning Ways Before All-Star Break
The Indiana Pacers were floundering heading into their final game before NBA All-Star Weekend, and they desperately needed a win in order to break their six-game losing streak and find some positive momentum before the break.
The Pacers (32-23) 118-111 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks (46-8) was just the kind of performance they needed to right the ship, as they dominated the best team in the NBA for much of the game, albeit without MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Forward T.J. Warren lead the way for Indiana with 35 points on a scorching-hot 16-19 shooting from the floor, including a perfect 9-9 on shots at the rim. Point guard Malcolm Brogdon played a key role as well, racking up 17 points on the night while also dishing out 13 assists.
The main reason for Indiana's six-game losing skid was an inability to close out games, and there were signs of those same late-game struggles last night, as the Pacers 25-point lead had dwindled to just four early in the fourth quarter. However, with just over eight minutes to play and Indiana leading 100-96, Brogdon took over the game. On back to back possessions, Brogdon initiated the offense and notched assists to Jeremy Lamb and Warren for open 3-pointers. On the next two possessions, he knocked down two free throws and then nailed a mid-range jumper to stretch the lead to 110-96 with about six minutes remaining to effectively seal the win.
The most notable takeaway from this game for me was that, for the first time since Oladipo returned from injury last month, the Pacers looked like a team firing on all cylinders. Over their six-game losing streak, it felt like the Pacers were forcing the offense through Oladipo, especially in the clutch when they struggled the most. This led to a poor flow on the offensive end, as well as lots of misses from Oladipo, who shot below 30% from the field over his first six games back in uniform.
Wednesday night’s game was a different story, however, as Oladipo had the fifth-most points for the Pacers with 13 on the night, while knocking down 5-7 attempts from the floor. Indiana didn’t force the ball into Oladipo’s hands and let him work more off the ball. We have seen Oladipo thrive with the ball, knocking down countless pull-up jumpers late in games, but right now the smart choice is to ease Oladipo into the offense instead of forcing him to play the same role he did in the past.
Overall, this performance laid out the blueprint for the Pacers' success on the offensive end for the rest of the season. Six different Pacers scored in double digits last night, and Indiana currently has seven players averaging at least 10 points per game. As I said earlier, we all know that Oladipo can ball out with the game on the line and shoulder the load offensively when needed, but that's the beauty of this Pacers team: they DON’T need Oladipo to be that guy. Brogdon has proven to be an effective and trusted ballhandler, Warren has consistently gotten buckets when needed and All-Star big man Domantas Sabonis has also shown that he can make magic happen with the ball in his hands on the offensive end.
Don’t get me wrong, this is still Victor Oladipo’s team. He’s still the best player on the roster on both ends of the floor, and he likely will end up being the guy with the ball in his hands when it matters most, but the depth of this roster gives the Pacers the luxury of easing him back into that role instead of throwing him back on the floor and giving him the rock with a sink-or-swim mindset. Last night’s win over the Bucks proved that, and we can only hope that Nate McMillan and the rest of the Pacers staff took notice.