NBA scores 2016: Is the Pacers’ improbable win a sign of things to come?

Indiana’s problems stem mostly from their bench, giving new head coach Nate McMillan an immediate riddle. But they managed a win Sunday, and at least that’s a start.

by Tim Cato

Nov 21, 2016, 1:00 PM UTC

NBA: Indiana Pacers at Oklahoma City Thunder

Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Indiana Pacers entered Sunday without a win on the road. Playing the Oklahoma City Thunder in Loud City, missing Paul George and C.J. Miles, that seemed unlikely to change.

But the Pacers led after the first quarter ... and then the second ... and then they finished the third with a nine-point lead. OK! Maybe this is it, they must have thought. Only to play this hideous defense with seconds left allowing Russell Westbrook to tie the game.

Glenn Robinson missed a baseline floater off the front of the rim, a shot that looked makeable as he released it and must have had Indiana fans sighing deeply. But then the Pacers won in overtime, a 115-111 victory, so what do we really know anyway?

Indiana shouldn’t have won that game — not missing George, not playing the eight-win Thunder, not after allowing Westbrook an uncontested game-tying shot. That they did is encouraging for a team that has started the season extremely unconvincingly. The win pulled the Pacers to 7-7 on the season, and Indiana should be grateful for that. Given how they’ve played, it could be much worse.

Four of the Pacers’ seven losses have been by 15 or more points, and another one came against the 76ers. It’s why the team is sporting a minus-1.8 net rating even as they’ve pulled to .500. The team’s defense has dropped from 3rd-best last season to average, and the offense is stagnating.

Both should improve. The team is integrating a new coach and point guard, which takes time. The real problem so far has been the bench, though. The Pacers picked up Al Jefferson, hoping to bolster the second unit, and instead the offense is scoring four fewer points and allowing six more when he plays.

Basically, it’s a whole lot of this.

On the other hand, it’s inspiring how great the starters have been. Myles Turner, particularly, is excelling in his new role. Even on Sunday, you have to be impressed when 2-of-8 shooting still nets him 15 points due to his work at the line. The defense allows a 99.9 defensive rating during his minutes, so it really is a two-sided approach.

Welcome to Indiana, McMillan! Now solve this starters/bench dilemma. Some staggering of minutes between the two clearly would seem to be the answer, mixing up five-man units so the talent is spread more smoothly. But how exactly McMillan accomplishes that, without sapping the team’s one real strength — it’s starting five playing together — is a puzzle he’ll need to figure out.

The Raptors, slumping?

Well — this is kind of true. Toronto has lost three of their last four games, but that includes a back-to-back against the Warriors and the Cavaliers. The Nuggets did push them to overtime on Friday before the Raptors fell 102-99 to the Kings on Sunday, dropping Toronto to 8-5 on the season. A back-to-back against two opponents that are the two best in the NBA, though, and we probably don’t label this as a slump.

Still, the loss revealed Toronto’s biggest flaw. DeMar DeRozan came down to Earth in Sunday’s loss, shooting 3-of-15 for 12 points despite most of his shots coming in the paint.

DeMar DeRozan’s 3-of-15 shooting night.

When DeRozan struggles — and to be fair, this is his first game scoring fewer than 23 points all year — Toronto is lacking some offensive firepower. The Raptors scored only 36 points in the second half when Sacramento pulled past them, and their 52 percent true shooting percentage for the game was mediocre. They can get big numbers from Jonas Valanciunas and Kyle Lowry, and they can even get some three-pointers from Patrick Patterson, all things that happened Friday. But the Kings hit 11 triples, and the Raptors ended up three points down on the scoreboard at the end of it all.

Sunday’s top performances

Jimmy Butler (40 points, 14-23 shooting, 7 rebounds, 6 assists)

Butler roundly dominated the Lakers, who had no one who could slow him down. He was too tall for Nick Young and too strong for Brandon Ingram, leading to Butler’s 40.

Jonas Valanciunas (23 points, 14 rebounds)

With DeRozan struggling, the big man acquitted himself more than adequately. He’s averaging 13.5 points and nearly 10 rebounds this year.

Russell Westbrook (31 points, 11 rebounds, 15 assists)

It’s hard to leave Russ off with a stat line like that, but note his 13-of-34 shooting. On one hand, sure, the Thunder need him to play like this given the rest of their roster — but you’d still like him play a little less manic at times.

CJ McCollum (33 points, 12-19 shooting)

We just want Kent Bazemore to be happy

And yes, it’s partially because Baze looks just like Chance the Rapper.