Charlotte at Indiana
Time: 6 PM CT (NBA LP)
Spread: IND -3
Total: 215
Odds c/o 5dimes
The Indiana Pacers (undoubtedly) have been the surprise team of the Eastern Conference thus far, and one need look no further than the breakout season of guard Victor Oladipo to determine why. Indy also has gone 6-4 over its past 10 games, but should continue to maintain about a .500 record and make its way into a lower seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Currently, Indy is seeded No. 5 and would face the Philadelphia 76ers if the postseason began today.
Truthfully, no one expected the Pacers to be this “Decent,” and the team could be better still if Myles Turner eventually realizes the star power he possesses and begins to take more shots.
Instead thus far, it has been Oladipo and his 23.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game that lead the team.
Oladipo has a PER of 23.3, and finally seems to have realize the true value of the three-point shot. Once so highly dependent on the mid-range game, Oladipo has adapted to this era of NBA basketball and is attempting six threes per night at a 37 percent clip. Turner is taking just 10.1 shot attempts per night though in his 29 minutes a game, and his biggest impact has been his rim protection, as Turner averages a stellar1.96 blocks per game thus far.
Not to be forgotten in the mix has been the strong play of sharpshooter Bojan Bogdanovic. The new acquisition seemingly could fit on every team, as shooters tend to, but Bogdanovic has averaged 14.4 points per game while shooting 39.6 percent from three on 4.8 attempts per night. Darren Collison is a clear downgrade from George Hill, but has done as well as possibly could have been expected in posting 12.8 points and 5.2 assists in 30 minutes a night. Rounding out the Pacers’ rotation is center Domantas Sabonis, stretch-4 Thaddeus Young and a resurgent Lance Stevenson. Stephenson has been a valuable contributor off the bench averaging 9.2 points and 0.59 steals in 23 minutes a night.
Sabonis came with Oladipo in the trade that sent Paul George to OKC, and he has proven to be much better as an interior player than the stretch-4 he functioned as during his rookie season last year. Young is good for nearly 12 points per game and keeps power forwards away form the basket. The Pacers simply are a much better constructed team than we initially credited them for entering this season, but no one expected Oladipo to go from being a middling starter to an All-Star in one offseason either.
What a difference coaching and play style makes, because Oladipo has always possessed the sheer talent to be this good, as a No. 2 overall pick who wasted his first several seasons with poor coaching in an Orlando Magic uniform.
Charlotte Notes:
The Charlotte Hornets are 7.5 games behind No. 8 seeded Miami, but the Hornets are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. Charlotte is 34-43 this season and should close in on nearly 40 wins; however, it would be inaccurate to say the team has not disappointed. Many figured even an aged Dwight Howard would be enough to lift Charlotte one more notch into playoff contention, and it is hard to shift any of the blame for failing to do so onto Howard himself, necessarily. He has had a good season.
It is simply that Charlotte has been atrocious (14-26) on the road, and Kemba Walker is still being asked to do far too much offensively. The Hornets point differential is barely negative (-0.2), but the team consistently loses close games and loses its big leads. Of course, all sub.-.500 teams tend to share these same cardinal sins, so perhaps it is redundant to continue to explain why Charlotte is not winning at a greater clip.
Kentucky Wildcat product and rookie Malik Monk has been a nice boost off of the bench (as I figured he would be), but the Hornets are in need of another star alongside Walker. Monk likely is not destined to be a superstar, but likely just a “pretty good source of scoring and decent player,” to be trite.
Walker has done about all he can, reached his peak, and the Hornets are still a poor team. Perhaps the 2018 draft brings an offensive game changer to share the load with Walker, but if not, the Hornets will remain mediocre for some time to come.
