Pacers burned by the Heat in Oladipo's return

To make matters worse, the Pacers drop their second straight game falling to 14-14. Currently good enough for the 8th seed in the east.  The Pacers played really well against an admittedly “good” Heat team. So it sucks a little extra that this game was just too far out of reach at the end to get the win. Rick Carlisle went to a new starting lineup with four guards and one Myles Turner. The four guards were Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Buddy Hield, and Aaron Nesmith. The starting group fell to an early lead which the pacers would spend the rest of the game clawing their way back in. They had an incredible trap going in the final minute, forcing two turnovers, but the Pacers weren’t able to capitalize on the offensive end. Losing 87-82 in the most defensive battle the NBA has seen in a while. If this team wants to win championships (yeah, that's plural), beating teams like this is a must.  

The Heat cooked up a good defensive scheme that threw Tyrese Halliburton's scoring abilities off, but they couldn’t shut down everything Tyrese does.  Coach Carlisle was quick to defend Tyrese in the post-game interview, as he should have been. I don’t want to sugarcoat shit and sell you doughnuts here; Tyrese had a bad shooting night. It happens, darn it. The low score feels so weird because he’s been executing at such high levels consistently all season.  But the low score doesn't mean Tyrese can't affect the game. 

Here’s Coach Carlisle's quote at the post-game press conference; “He [Haliburton] goes 0-9, scores 1, and he’s still plus 7 in the game. So that’s what a great player looks like. They find other ways to impact the game.” Rick has seen quite a few great players in his time, so if I were you, I’d take his word on this one.

Myles Turner continues to play a confident and mature style of Myles’ Basketball. Posting 15 points and 13 rebounds, along with four blocks. He’s playing freely out there, and it shows. He’s gone up against some of the premier center talents and hasn’t shied away from the challenge yet. Last night was no different facing Bam Adebayo.  The team wouldn’t have been in the game without Myles. Holding any team under 90 these days is tough. I mean, shit, the pacers have given up 90 points before the 4th quarter even starts this season. It appears that Myles has found a signature shot for himself in that “walk-into-it-top-of-the-key-three-ball” or WIITOTKTB for short. Myles has been nothing short but impressive this season, and last night was no different.

Buddy Hield was cooking yet again, with 19 points and nine rebounds. Buddy has been one of my primary focuses since he joined the Pacers. He’s so much fun to watch; his game is so interesting.  He runs all the time, constantly trying to get open. Just out here running miles for nice scenic views of that hoops. Every time he shoots it, I just assume it's going in.   His defense isn’t DYOP level or anything, but the way he communicates and listens to teammates on defense has made him a better defender. Not only does he talk to his teammates, but he also talks to Coach Carlisle. The fit with Buddy and Carlisle just makes so much sense to me. He's developing into a complete fucking player before our eyes, and I don't think people realize it.

Benedict Mathurin had a quiet night, scoring just 9 points while going 1-6 from deep. His incredibly hot start has hit its first chill. How he responds will be interesting. Now I hate player comps as much as the next person. I find them lazy, misleading, and unfair to both players yada yada. Still, when I was watching Jimmy Butler, I couldn’t help but see some of Benedict’s game out there, relentless effort, unfiltered confidence, and ability to get to the line. That can be said for a lot of players sure, but not many of them can ride that to the NBA finals like Jimmy did in the 2020 bubble. All of these could be valuable areas that Bennedict can learn from facing competition like Jimmy Butler. How Benedict chooses to grow will be so very important for this franchise over the next few years, and after 28 games, I feel confident in the kid and what his future holds. 

Oladipo also returned to his former stomping ground. Cheers during the tribute video, but mostly boo's when he checked into the game. Not sure about the boos. I could give you like 120,000,000 reasons not to boo if you really need them. I thought the tribute video was very nice, highlighting not only what Victor did on the court but as what he did for our community. I did find it quite interesting the Pacers chose to go with the Mask Singer game on the jumbotron on Oladipo’s return. With limited minutes didn't do a whole lot. Oladipo made a few good plays, usually followed by boos with faint whispers of a damn that was kind of sick. He snatched some ankles on a mid-range jumper and rifled an assist cross-court for a corner 3. I'll always look fondly on the Dipo days, so what, sue me. 

It's a hard loss with many ups and downs, but I believe the truest travesty was the number of heat jerseys I saw. I know there’s no way that many people are leaving Miami to visit Indianapolis on a Sunday night. So that means they’re people living here in the Hoosier state, not to point fingers, but probably Carmel, that call themselves heat fans. Blech. Just despicable behavior. I’m sure there won’t be a similar issue this Wednesday against the Warriors at 7 pm.