INDIANAPOLIS – If the Indiana Pacers are going to win their first playoff series in 5 seasons, it will have to be done without their All-Star shooting guard.
Victor Oladipo has chosen to sit out the remainder of the 2019-20 NBA season, which means the constant lineup shuffling dance Nate McMillan had to take part in earlier this season will continue in Orlando, as well.
Good news?
The Pacers were 32-20 without Oladipo this season.
Bad news?
They have a roster with little alpha experience, especially in the postseason, will be the underdog in any playoff series and Jermey Lamb (the ideal replacement on the roster for Oladipo) is also out.
Here are three dominoes from not having Oladipo in Orlando:
1. Aaron Holiday Opportunity
No individual should benefit more from Oladipo’s absence than the younger Holiday.
He goes from a fringe rotational guy to possibly the starting shooting guard next to Malcolm Brogdon.
On a Zoom call Monday, Holiday acknowledged the need for him to shift his mindset once he heard the Oladipo news, knowing that a huge opportunity was/is coming his way in Orlando.
Holiday started the final 5 games (in place of Brogdon) before the NBA stopped in March. However, he struggled with his shot, going 11-of-35 (31 percent) from the floor and 3-of-14 (21 percent) from behind the arc in those games.
This move would keep the bench mostly intact and give the starting lineup more of a scoring-minded 2-guard.
It would be quite the opportunity for Holiday though. He’s shown flashes of scoring punch in his three NBA seasons, but not the consistency needed to secure a regular spot in the rotation.
For a former first-round pick nearing the end of his rookie contract, this would be a big evaluation period.
2. More Scoring Burden On Malcolm Brogdon
It doesn’t matter who the Pacers insert into the starting lineup, more scoring responsibility is going to fall on the shoulders of Malcolm Brogdon.
Yes, the Pacers have a unique frontcourt duo of Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner. And T.J. Warren has had a really strong year scoring on a playoff team.
But in the playoffs, guards still carry more of a burden and that means a higher level of play from Brogdon will be needed to advance.
Brogdon, who did test positive for COVID-19 in late June, says he’s fully healthy after injuring his quad in early March.
Early in the season, Brogdon handled a bigger scoring role, while still being an efficient point guard.
Since the calendar hit 2020 though, Brogdon hasn’t been near that level.
The Pacers have to get ‘All-Star caliber’ Brogdon to find success in Orlando.
3. Keep Doing You Bench
We mentioned above that the Pacers were 32-20 without Oladipo this season.
It must be noted that the Pacers had Jeremy Lamb’s scoring for a massive chunk of those games.
Lamb’s brutal knee injury in late February has taken away a player that would have been the starting two guard without Oladipo.
Based off how Nate McMillan has typically handled these situations, he is a fan of keeping the bench unit together.
That makes sense given how that group has played together this season.
T.J. McConnell, Justin Holiday and Doug McDermott playing alongside Domantas Sabonis (when he stays in the game to play with the reserves) has had really good success.
McMillan has talked about needing to balance out minutes with the unusual nature of this season re-starting up. If that’s so, the bench will be leaned on heavily.
It’s a group that has wilted in recent playoff series.
But what we’ve seen so far in the regular season should give the coaching staff a little more hope this time around.
