Pacers start home-stand with a bang
By TYLER SMITH (@TylerSmith_ISL)
ISL Editor
INDIANAPOLIS — With the Philadelphia 76ers coming to town on Thursday, it would have been easy for the Pacers to overlook Tuesday’s game against Phoenix. Instead, they started their five-game home-stand off with a bang. They never trailed in the game, and defeated the Suns 131-97.
Bojan Bogdanovic continued his run of being better at basketball than what anybody thought two years ago. He scored the first 10 points of the game for the Pacers and finished with 20 points and five rebounds.
Myles Turner returned to action after missing four straight games. He shook off the early rust quickly and put together 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, to go along with six boards and two blocks. He connected on six straight shots at one point in the game.
“Defensively, we need him,” Victor Oladipo said. “Offensively, he spreads the floor. He was big for us tonight.”
Teammate Darren Collison agreed: “It’s great to have him back. He’s so important for us. Guards have to always know where he’s at, and he can cover even a slight hesitation from them.”
Seven Pacers scored in double-figures, and that didn’t even include Victor Oladipo, who scored eight.
“They don’t always need me to score,” Oladipo said. “That’s the beauty of our team. Up by 25 points? I don’t need to score.”
The Pacers improved to 25-9 on the season when the second unit scores 30+ points. That’s the winning percentage equivalent of a 60-win team.
The 131 point night was the second-highest scoring total of the season for Indiana. It was also their second-largest margin of victory. They have posted three wins by 30 or more points for the first time since the 1993-1994 season.
Next up? A big Thursday match-up with the 76ers.
“The next step is beating the really good teams,” Oladipo said. “We’ve proven we can win games like this and that’s great, but the next step is proving we can beat the top teams consistently.”
