I don’t think there is a team more slept on than the Indiana Pacers. Not that I could necessarily blame you though. I only started thinking about this recently myself. Right now, the Pacers are 6th in the Eastern Conference. Doesn’t really scream underrated. They’re also 5 games behind the Bucks this early in the season. How can they really be underrated?
To be fair, the Bucks are 4 games ahead of the 2nd team in the East at least, so the Bucks being 5 games ahead of Pacers isn’t surprising. Those that are smart enough have already realized that means the Pacers are only a game out of 2nd place in the East. Sure, before the season, the Pacers were known as a playoff team. I believe I put them at 4th in the East myself. I have failed to explain why the Pacers are underrated, the most underrated, in the NBA. THEY’RE DOING THIS WITHOUT THEIR BEST PLAYER! Victor Oladipo has yet to play this season and you guys haven’t really noticed.
To only be a game out of 2nd place without your best player is crazy. Of course, we all expected for Malcolm Brogdon to be the go-to scorer for the Pacers in the absence of Oladipo. He has stepped into that role gracefully averaging 19 PPG. I always thought the Pacers got a steal for taking Brogdon away from the Bucks. One of the better surprises for the Pacers has been Domantas Sabonis, who is only averaging 1 point behind Brogdon. TJ Warren is also impressing with his 17.5 PPG. The other two Pacers players averaging double digits are Jeremy Lamb and Myles Turner.
The Pacers balanced scoring attack is helping the Pacers win games because teams have to worry about every person I named scoring. Adding Victor Oladipo is going to make that even better for the Pacers. Sure, everyone’s numbers will dip a little when he comes back, but that only makes them that much more dangerous. Last year, in 36 games, he was a solid 18-5-5 player. The year before he averaged 23-4-5. Adding that production only makes it scarier for teams to guard this Pacers team. Indiana might mess around and find themselves as the 2nd seed come playoff time. You heard it hear first. The Indiana Pacers are the most underrated team in the NBA.
