Pacers continue to roll without Oladipo
(Tyreke Evans scored 10 points in the Pacers win over Sacramento. Photo by: Pacers Sports and Entertainment)
By TYLER SMITH
ISL Editor
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers continue to roll, even without their star Victor Oladipo. They defeated the Sacramento Kings 107-97 on Saturday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, improving to 8-4 in games without their All-Star.
When you face injuries, you need depth and you need defense. The Pacers have been deploying plenty of both.
For the third straight game, the Pacers held their opponent under 100 points. By comparison: the Atlanta Hawks have only done that one time this entire season.
Why has the defense been so good of late? “To be honest, Myles,” said Darren Collison. “When you have a big man like that, and he’s blocking shots, it just changes the whole game. Now the guards are hesitant to get inside the paint.”
Turner credits defense and depth for the Pacers success. pic.twitter.com/F0C3wr2FXV
— Tyler Smith (@TylerSmith_ISL) December 9, 2018
The Pacers also had eight players score nine or more points, led by Thad Young’s 20-point effort. Indiana is now 15-7 this season when the second unit scores 30+ points, and 11-4 when Tyreke Evans scores in double-figures.
“We were going to need a team win again tonight,” said Pacers Head Coach Nate McMillan. “Tonight, the bench, different group, same result. Another team effort.”
Darren Collison agreed: “Our bench has been playing well all year long. I thought Cory (Joseph) and Aaron (Holiday) did a good job of opening the game up. Domas (Sabonis) had an excellent game too.”
Myles Turner continued his strong play with nine points, 13 rebounds, and four blocks. He is now averaging 2.7 blocks per game, which is third in the NBA. Commenting on the depth of this team, Turner said: “It’s huge. We have a lot of weapons on this team and now everybody is playing with confidence. I think that’s one thing that has grown a lot. I don’t think guys at the beginning of the season were playing with as much confidence as they’re playing with right now.”
A few seasons ago, the Pacers were 1-8 on the second night of a back-to-back. This season? They are 5-0 in those games.
“We take it one game at a time and then see where we are,” McMillan said. “Tonight, the motivation was the things that happened in the game the last time we played.”
More good news? The Pacers shot 19-of-22 from the foul line (86%). They also had 26 assists on 40 field goals, and improved to 9-3 on the season when dishing out 25+ assists.
The Pacers now sit at 16-10 on the season and have a favorable schedule through the month of December. Assuming Victor Oladipo returns in the not-too-distant future, this team could really be in line to make some noise this season.
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