Indianapolis - Kenny Atkinson noted after the second game that his Cavaliers "run out of gas."
After wielding a 20-point lead in Game 2 (including a 7-point lead over the last 48 seconds), the No. 1 seed Cavaliers were exhausted and trailed 2-0 in the series, but they were not surprised. They know that the overall combination of defensive pressure and offensive speed for the Pacers is different from anything they do all year round, and they want them to step up in the playoffs. They expect the feeling they expect, but he will feel even more disappointed after the start of the two home games.
"It's hard to prepare for this speed," Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell said in a shooting match before Game 2.
Pacers have begun to call it a "wear effect" which is a big part of what makes them confident later in the race. That's why they kept their faith in Game 2 with the Cavaliers and Game 5 against the Bucks, when they returned from a 20-point deficit with another 7-point deficit and 48 seconds left. Last season, it helped them outperform the Knicks in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, which helped them outperform this year as they have won 24 wins of the season's "black" situation in any of the last five minutes.
“There is always time,” center Myles Turner said after Game 2. “We know how our stress wears off on the team.”
Becoming unique, requiring Pacers and coach Rick Carlisle to make decisions that go against the conference and oppose Carlisle's history. But after the season started at 10-15, the Pacers are committed to winning their own victory as they have been looking for any opportunity to take a quick break for the past two seasons, but also exploiting the full-game-to-human pressure more often, just like last year's playoffs.
The Pacers beat the Bucks 4-1 40-17 in the regular season after that. They tend toward depth in the regular season, and while the playoffs often lead to coaches narrowing their rotation ability, the Pacers effectively expand their game by using not only 10 players but also 11 players to keep fresh legs in the game and make sure their starters have enough juice on their legs to finish the game.
"This gives us a latitude that is adjusted based on people," Carlisle said. "...We need everyone. It's simple."
The Pacers also leaned heavily on the bench in the playoffs last year, but took on more responsibilities in the hands of fewer substitutes. The spin effectively was nine men, with veteran point guard TJ McConnell, high-fly forward Obi Toppin and high-energy wing Ben Sheppard got most of the bench, while center Isaiah Jackson got the job in the 5 off the standby center facing the Pacers, which was too big to handle Toppin with Toppin.
The Pacers led the NBA with a bench and shooting percentage in the regular season, and in the playoffs they finished second in the playoffs on the overall bench and led them to the bench scoring, goal percentage and bench on the bench. McConnell and Toppin scored 1-2 on the stage with 200 and 185 points, while McConnell's 86 playoff assists were 46 more than any substitute.
Throughout the season, the Pacers bench operates differently this year, in part because the roster has experienced so much injury-based turmoil. Jackson and James Wiseman Center suffered from end-of-season Achilles tendon tears in the first week of the season. Starting shooting guard Andrew Nembhard (knee tendinitis) and small forward Aaron Nesmith (ankle sprain) and reserve Sheppard (tensive tilt) missed a long time early in the season, while Nesmith disappeared from 35 games between November 16 and January 16. They signed center Moses Brown and then replaced Thomas Bryant, who became a full-time backup center and later signed Tony Bradley to ensure they had a third center.
McConnell and Toppin are still the backbone of the second unit, but there are quite constant changes elsewhere on the bench. Sheppard and Jarace Walker have seen their rise for a few minutes and fallen. Bennedict Mathurin started a year on the bench and moved into the starting lineup when Nesmith was injured, staying for a month after he returned to the bench, but moved to the starting lineup whenever there was an injury-related absence in the starting lineup.
Perhaps the result is that the Pacers’ true second unit this year is not as strong as any last year, while Carlisle is trying more frequently to make sure he always has at least one starter on the floor and often deploys one of the All-Star Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam, as well as four Bench Guneres.
The Pacers fell from first to seventh in the bench game, and despite their first goal percentage on the bench, their most commonly used real, second unit of five shots played in just 41 minutes this year and earned a -9.3 net rating per game. The next second unit used is played for 20 minutes and 19 minutes respectively. One of them has a +27.3 net rating and the other is -8.2. After the Pacers clinked homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs and benched their starters in the 81st game of the year and kept Haliburton and Siakam out of the second game, they lost by double figures to the Magic and then fell behind big to a Cavaliers team of subs before their two-way contract players and seldom used bench players staged an incredible rally to win the season's last game.
But the Pacers’ bench currently forms their game style as it provides them with defensive versatility – Mathurin, Sheppard, Walker and Toppin can all defend and play multiple positions. They may not have the most cohesive unit, but everyone works with energy, which is the most important thing they can do on the floor.
They are also willing to go to court and take on difficult tasks. McConnell, Mathurin and Sheppard all scored 94-foot players in the playoffs, and Walker had to guard Giannis Antetokounmpo in the first round.
"It's getting tired," McConnell said. "It's getting tired of others. Our depth, if we all can do that, it's hard to fight us for 48 minutes. We're ready to prepare for a series like this in the playoffs. We can only keep working on both ends."
McConnell sets the standard to ensure he does so. The 33-year-old and 10-year-old NBA veteran made his career out of full-game pressure, and his reliable success inspired the lead of the rest of the team.
"TJ is the head of the snake there," Halliburton said. "He's like a big brother. Everyone follows his leadership. Benn Mathurin, Walking, Shepp, and all these guys came here when TJ was here. They saw his job, he's doing a career, being a 94-foot guy, picking up a 94-foot guy and doing all the little things. I think in your case, they want to do a tough thing in the same range.
McConnell, Toppin and Mathurin missed the playoffs in last year’s playoffs and have been able to rely on a steady playoff minutes, averaging at least 15 minutes per game per game. In the playoffs, Mathurin ranked sixth in the playoffs, McConnell ranked ninth and Toppin ranked 12th. McConnell tied with 27 assists in total assists.
For Kobe, Walker and Shepard, the minutes are even more sporadic. Walker and Sheppard, in particular, have changed and changed throughout the year. Shepard didn’t play at all in the first two games of the Milwaukee series and hasn’t played more than eight minutes in any of the last three games. Walker played 21 minutes in Game 4, against the Cavaliers in Game 2 and Game 2 at 3:24, and he played a lot of data points between the two.
Carlisle told both to prepare for anything and that their roles were not sure about playing, but they kept their focus.
"One of the common themes of how I play on the court is to bring energy, win, do hard work and tough things," Shepard said. Shepard said he averaged 19.7 minutes per game in the playoffs last year, playing in all 17 games, but this year, only 11.4 games per game, and this year there are 2 DNPs. “My situation is different in terms of tasks and things like that, but it’s ready to know my strengths and not do anything that’s harmful to the team.”
Overall, the Pacers' statistics aren't as impressive as the playoffs a year ago. So far, they ranked fifth in scores per game, fifth in assists, eighth in three-pointers and sixth in three-point shooting percentage, even if they do lead all playoff teams. But their most important task is to help produce wear and tear effects, which is the task they complete.
“We are not a team that will do everything in every game,” Halliburton said. “We’ve been preaching depth. We have a lot of different people who contribute and are a big part of what we do.”
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