Pacers win 5th game when trailing by 19 points

Tyler Smith January 27, 2018 0

By TYLER SMITH (@TylerSmith_ISL)
ISL Editor

(Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)

INDIANAPOLIS — When the Indiana Pacers trail by double-digits in a game, don’t change the channel.

If you haven’t figured that out by now, maybe Saturday night could serve as another reminder. For the fifth time this season, the Pacers came back to win a game in which they trailed by 19 or more points.

They were down 70-50 in the closing seconds of the first half. They trailed by 10 with six minutes to play. In the end, they came out victorious 114-112 over the Orlando Magic in front a sellout crowd at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

“We’ve been in this situation a lot, especially at home,” said Myles Turner. “We never really feel like we’re out of any games.”

Turner returned to action after missing the previous nine games and scored four points with three rebounds in limited action.

Victor Oladipo led the way with 24 points, six assists, five rebounds, and you guessed it, clutch plays at the end of the game. His jumper gave the Pacers the lead with 3:25 to play. He also made a few key passes to Domantas Sabonis in the game’s final possessions.

Victor Oladipo now has 11 games this season with at least 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. His previous season-high was 5 during both the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons.

— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) January 28, 2018

Oladipo gave a ton of credit to the home crowd. “When they’re hyped, it’s an unbelievable atmosphere,” he said. “It’s unlike any other.”

Sabonis finished the game with 17 points and nine rebounds. He has averaged 14 points and 10 rebounds as a starter in 18 games. Thaddeus Young had 20 points on 9-of-14 from the field. The Pacers are now 4-1 on the season when Young scores 20+ points.

In other non surprising news, Lance Stephenson was huge in the Pacers comeback. He scored a season-high 21 points to go along with six assists, five rebounds, and two steals.

“Tonight he was making his shots and he was defending,” Pacers Coach Nate McMillan said of Stephenson. “He was playing both ends of the floor. When he’s doing that for us, he can really help us.”

Mood. pic.twitter.com/so0Cgw2YJo

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) January 28, 2018

Like Oladipo, Stephenson gave a shout-out to the Indy crowd. “We feed off the crowd. The game tonight, we all felt tired, but the energy from the crowd got us going. It definitely helped us.”

The Pacers shot just 5-of-18 from behind the arc. They typically win games only when they shoot well from three. It helps when they shoot 61% on their two-point shots for the game as they did against Orlando.

Former Pacers Coach Frank Vogel has still never beaten his former team (0-7 the last two years). He was very complimentary of this Pacers squad. “That’s a good basketball team,” Vogel said. “Credit the Pacers. They made more plays and got to the rim.” When asked about Victor Oladipo, Vogel said: “We switched on a lot of stuff and he still made plays. That’s why he’s an All-Star. He’s playing at a really high level and he was too much for us tonight.”

Over the last 12 games, the Pacers are 8-4 and have shot 50% or better in six of those games. They are now 17-0 on the season when shooting 50% or better in a game. They are also 15-3 in games when they record 25 or more assists.

The Pacers will finish out the month of January with two more home games next week, as they host Charlotte on Monday, and Memphis on Wednesday.