Built for Battle: How the Pacers Can Win Game 2

The Indiana Pacers aren’t supposed to be in the Eastern Conference Finals. From the beginning of the season, the team absolutely showed a promising future. They would be great— in a couple of years. Against the odds, though, they have proven themselves to be a force, stunning both short-handed Milwaukee and New York. The narrative is clear: if not for injuries to key players, the Pacers surely would have folded… right? They don’t play any defense… right? Haliburton has struggled since the playoffs began… right?

Let’s put the cards on the table: the Pacers should have left TD Garden with a victory in game one. The win was in the palm of their hand, yet it slipped away. While the loss may haunt the organization and its fans for a while, Indy faithful should take the game as a relative positive. The game being winnable with Indy in the driver’s seat late was certainly unexpected. Moreover, the Pacers played an absurdly sloppy game, but it took the consensus best team in the NBA an overtime period to beat them. Despite the loss, the Pacers cemented themselves as real contenders armed with the most dangerous weapon in sports: hope.

So how do they adjust to win game two tonight? The first and most obvious answer is reducing the number of turnovers. Indiana gave the ball away 21 times, and the Celtics made them pay with 32 points scored off turnovers. The Celtics are good enough on their own, they don’t need the ball donated to them.

The second obvious issue to address is the lack of free throw attempts. The Pacers shot a whopping 10 free throws to Boston’s 30. That disparity is absolutely unacceptable. They have to be more aggressive.

The free throw problem has a relatively easy fix. First, take a look at this graph from NBA University.

The vaunted Celtics defense seems to have a crack: they have a hard time defending P&R. Now, the above chart also indicates Indiana’s struggle to produce points out of the same action, but humor me.

With Kristaps Porzingis sidelined until at least game three, the Pacers have an opportunity to exploit the weakness created by his absence. Al Horford is a valuable player, but he’s not as quick as he used to be. He played drop coverage the whole game, and the Pacers actually did well to exploit it at times. Pascal Siakam shot the lights out with Horford as his defender in the P&R. Haliburton went 3-for-4 with Horford in drop. That is going to be a huge key to game two. This could be the key to free throws if instead of settling for jumpers, they attack the drop more. Just a thought.

They really need to target Payton Pritchard while they’re at it. The guy is 6’1. The Pacers got some nice matchups with Pritchard on the floor.

For a team that loves to switch everything, Pritchard is a weak link. When he’s on the floor, Indiana has to find a way to exploit his size.

Just as a side note, I think it would be wise to give Obi Toppin more playing time. He’s another big, strong, and athletic body to roll out against a mostly huge Celtics lineup. A locked-in Toppin provides energy and size the Pacers could use. Especially once Nesmith fouled out, the right call would have been bringing in Toppin. If Pritchard is in the game, Toppin should be as well.

Just to further prove my point, check out this play early in the fourth.

Defense was a mixed bag for Indiana. Like, why wasn’t Siakam guarding Tatum the whole game? Part of the reason you trade to get a player of his skillset is his defense. Let him take the matchup early.

On the one hand, they mostly did well shrinking the floor when Tatum and Brown had iso opportunities (some good boxes-and-elbows looks). On the other hand, the execution fell apart at the worst possible time. Observe.

Nesmith has to recover faster off that screen. But more confoundingly, why is Haliburton closing out to Horford to leave Derrick White wide open for the highest quality shot in NBA basketball (a wide open corner 3). Of the shots available, I’m sure Indiana would take the Horford attempt every single time. Old Man Al went 3-for-12 from three. Not a great decision at such a crucial time in the game.

It’s not all doom and gloom for Indiana. A lot went right for them. Many detractors had to swallow their pride as Boston didn’t exactly steamroll them, so many “experts” remaining quiet after the hard-fought battle. Game two is going to be fun tonight, and if the Pacers steal a game in enemy territory, it will be a brand new series.