Indiana Pacers vs Los Angeles Lakers

Recap from a weird Indiana Pacers game in LA

In perhaps the weirdest game of the season, the Indiana Pacers were defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers 104-96.

I don’t really know where to start this. At one point, the Los Angeles Lakers led the Indiana Pacers by 23 points in the first quarter last night. But the Pacers led 69-66 midway through the third quarter. But the Lakers were up 10 with one minute to go. It was a bizarre night that ended with a Lakers 8 point win.

It’s a game of runs, and this one featured many. The Pacers outscored the Lakers by 15 over the final 3 quarters, but the Lakers outscored the Pacers 38-27 over the final 16 minutes. Nothing ever felt right, and no lead ever felt safe.

With weird games like this, it can be hard to find takeaways and things that might be projectable. But we can get enough, thanks to continuing patterns of poor play from certain players and great play from others. Let’s go.

Three observations

1. The Indiana Pacers did not meet their assists goal.

Domantas Sabonis was kind enough to explain that in training camp the team set a goal for themselves every game: 25 assists. That tends to ensure that the team is moving the ball effectively and getting at least relatively good shots.

Last night, that did not happen. The team finished with 23 assists, and the ball movement only looked okay. When Tyreke Evans was on the floor, the ball movement was miserable. When he sat, it was better. Take that for what it’s worth.

2. Thaddeus Young led the team in field goal attempts.

I’m sorry, what?

Thad Young is awesome. My irrational affinity for him knows no bounds. But I like him for the things he does that aren’t scoring the ball: defense, screen setting, cutting, etc. His scoring is probably his worst trait.

Thad’s effective field goal percentage is 49.5 percent this season, the third lowest of his career. 13 shots are too much for a player who can’t be efficient from anywhere outside of a few feet. Young is solid around the rim, and he deserves the 8-10 shots he can find every game. But 13 is too many, especially when you only make 5.

3. LeBron continues to be the bane of the Pacers existence.

Outside of the previously mentioned Thad Young playing adequate defense on LeBron James for a short stretch of the game, the King proved again that he is too much for the Pacers.

LeBron effortlessly had 38/9/7 on 56 percent shooting. I never once thought he was trying to take over the game or overexerting himself, and yet he had a ridiculous stat line. He’s too good, just like he was in the playoffs last year.

James finished a +19 in an 8 point win. He was everything for the Lakers in this one.

Two questions

1. Will Darren Collison continue to shoot this poorly?

Darren Collison is currently hitting a career-worst percentage from three-point range. He also supports his second worst two-point percentage of his career. His free throw percentage is nearly 10 percent worse than it has ever been before.

What the hell?

Aging is an obvious factor, but this massive drop-off in just putting the ball in the hole is mostly unprecedented. His true shooting percentage is below 50 percent for the first time in his career, and the Pacers need better.

Ironically, his shot profile is pretty similar to last year. He’s getting a pretty similar distribution of his looks from either the rim or behind the arc (55.8 percent this year vs 57.8 last year). His efficiency should rise. But we can’t be certain as he has never missed this much before. The Pacers need him to turn it around.

2. Is this the new norm for McDermott?

Doug McDermott has 52 points in the Indiana Pacers previous 3 games. Prior to that stretch, he had 54 points in the teams previous 13 games. Clearly, something has clicked for him.

The team is getting him more involved in the offense, and it is paying off big time. The defense closes out hard every time he gets a touch, which both creates spacing and makes the defense scramble. The offense has been stellar with McDermott on the floor.

The team is a +26 on the current road trip with McD on the floor. Hopefully, this jump in usage and effectiveness is the new norm for Douggie Mcbuckets with the second unit.

One prediction
1. Tyreke Evans minutes will soon diminish.

Tyreke Evans was supposed to come into Indiana and be a second scoring option, capable of putting up big points when Victor Oladipo couldn’t.

He was supposed to add shooting, attacking, shot creation, and perimeter defense. He has pretty much shown none of that so far, give or take a handful of games.

He stunk in this game. His ball-stopping ways frequently hurt the offense, there were a few possessions where he literally guarded nobody, and he was putrid finishing around the basket.

Maybe moving back to the second unit upon Olaidpo’s return will help Evans, but he’s 10/30 on the road trip so far. If he can’t offer what he was brought in to give, then he will soon be playing fewer minutes in lieu of the surprising Aaron Holiday.

The Indiana Pacers will look to right the ship and close out the road trip strong with a win in Sacramento on Saturday. Hopefully, they can address some of the issues that plagued them in this game.

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