Logically, a team that wins consecutive road games with quantity ball movement that leads to quality shooting would continue its approach when it returns home for its next game.
Not much about the NBA is logical, though, not in an era when players can go off for more than 50 points in three quarters and 7-footers shoot better from 3-point range better than guards once did. So, the Pacers' 103-93 loss to Portland on Monday will have to go down as another one of those reminders teams send to themselves throughout each season. Straying from what had worked so well in San Antonio and Cleveland, they lost to the Blazers for the fourth time in the last five meetings at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
"We didn't have the ball movement," coach Nate McMillan said. "I thought that frustrated us. Our defense was pretty good for the most part. We never got into a rhythm offensively. I thought we took some quick shots throughout the game and settled on a lot of those shots."
The Pacers committed a season-low nine turnovers. They put all five starters in double figures. They held Portland guards Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum to a combined 33 points, more than 20 below their season's dual average. They held Portland to 103 points, 19 below its season scoring average. They scored more second-chance points and fastbreak points, too, and got the Blazers' best two centers into early foul trouble.
Those outcomes usually result in victory. But the ripple effects of the Pacers' offensive shortcomings were too much to overcome.
There are overwhelming indications that Victor Oladipo holds the fate of the Pacers offense in his shooting hand. He hit just 9-of-24 shots on Monday, marring an otherwise strong performance that included nine rebounds, seven assists, and solid defense of McCollum.
Logical or not, the fact remains the Pacers struggle to win when their leading scorer has a high-volume shooting game and rarely lose when he doesn't. Going back to last season, they are one game under .500 when he shoots 20 or more times and 24-3 when he shoots 15 or less. He shoots about 40 percent in the 20-or-more games and about 60 percent in the 15-or-less games.
That sparked a 27-10 run that provided the Pacers a four-point halftime lead. Oladipo was the driving force, although his only scoring after his 3-pointer came on a technical foul free throw. He had four rebounds, three assists (two of them for Bojan Bogdanovic 3-pointers), a steal, and just one missed shot in that run.
Photo: Walt Thomas
If the Pacers have a winning formula, that appears to be it. They got away from it in the second half, however. They trailed by two points heading into the fourth quarter and were down 11 with five minutes left. Oladipo then tried to do what a team's best player usually does, shoot them back in it. He scored 13 of their 24 points while taking four more shots than all his teammates combined, but the Pacers couldn't contain Portland, which scored 32 points on 52 percent shooting in the final period.
"At the end of the day we beat ourselves tonight," Bojan Bogdanovic said.
The game contained some fluky elements. Third-string center Zach Collins scored a career-high 17 points while filling in for the foul-burdened Jusuf Nurkic and Meyers Leonard. Former Purdue star Caleb Swanigan, who had played three scoreless minutes in Portland's first five games, finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Still, the biggest factor was the Pacers' offense.
"When you play that way you frustrate each other," McMillan said. "You get playing, 'Well, the next time I get the ball it's my turn.' We'll continue to work at it. We know how to play this game. Sometimes we have slippage where we go off on our own and starting jacking up shots. That's something we have to continue to work at."
Oladipo, who had criticized his own shot selection in the locker room following the Pacers' loss at Minnesota seven days earlier, considered this latest defeat more an issue of poor shooting and some hesitation.
"I felt like today we didn't make as many shots as we did on the road," he said. "Games like this happen in the course of an 82-game year. You just have to do a better job when we're in this situation again being prepared for it and executing down the stretch."
What improvement is needed for Wednesday's game at New York?
"Not overthink the game," he said. "When you're open, shoot it. If you feel you can make the play, just make the play. Whether it's drive and kick, if it's a pass, if it's a shot, just do it and do it with confidence and not overthink it."
Hidden among the Pacers' loss was the season's best game from Collison. The only starter to hit more than half of his field goal attempts, he scored 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting and passed out six assists without a turnover.
"The good thing is, we want to get better at moving the ball," he said. "We're conscious of it, and that's a good thing."
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Mark Montieth's book on the formation and groundbreaking seasons of the Pacers, "Reborn: The Pacers and the Return of Pro Basketball to Indianapolis," is available in bookstores throughout Indiana and on Amazon.com.
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