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INDIANAPOLIS — Kenny Atkinson noted after Game 2 his Cavaliers "ran out of gas."
The No. 1 seed Cavs were exhausted after squandering a 20-point lead in Game 2 — including a seven-point lead in the last 48 seconds — to fall behind 2-0 in the series, but they weren't surprised to be that tired. They knew going in that the Pacers' overall combination of defensive pressure and offensive pace was unlike anything they'd dealt with all year and they expected them to step it up in the postseason. They were expecting what they expected to feel, but with more disappointment after having failed to withstand it in two home games to start the series.
"It's tough to prepare for that pace," Cavs star Donovan Mitchell said in shootaround Tuesday before Game 2. "It's tough to replicate that in practice. Obviously, going through it, getting a feel for it is obviously good. They're unique. They're the only team that really runs like that in the playoffs."
The Pacers have started to refer to it as the "wear-down effect," and it's a big part of what gives them confidence late in games. It's why they maintained belief in themselves both in Game 2 against the Cavs and in Game 5 against the Bucks when they came back from 20-point deficits and another seven-point deficit with 48 seconds to go. It helped them outlast the Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season and it's helped them outlast teams throughout this year as they've earned 24 wins this season in "clutch" situations when games are within five points in any of the last five minutes.
"There's always time on the clock," center Myles Turner said after the Game 2 win. "We know how our pressure wears on teams."
Becoming that unique has required the Pacers and coach Rick Carlisle to make decisions that go against convention and against Carlisle's coaching history. But after a 10-15 start this season, the Pacers devoted themselves to winning by being relentless, continuing to look for any opportunity to fast break as they had the past two seasons but also more frequently utilizing full-court man-to-man pressure like they did in last year's playoffs.
The Pacers went 40-17 in the regular season after that and then took down the Bucks 4-1 in the first round. They leaned into their depth in the regular season and even though playoffs generally lead coaches to shrink their rotations, the Pacers have effectively extended theirs, using not just 10 players but 11 to keep fresh legs coming in the game and making sure their starters have enough juice in their legs to finish games strong.
"It gives us latitude to be able to make adjustments based on personnel, based on matchups those kinds of things," Carlisle said. "... We need everybody. It's as simple as that."
The Pacers leaned heavily on their bench last year in the playoffs as well, but put more responsibility in the hands of fewer bench players. The rotation was effectively nine men with veteran point guard T.J. McConnell, high-flying forward Obi Toppin and high-energy wing Ben Sheppard getting most of the bench minutes and center Isaiah Jackson getting work at the 5 when the Pacers faced backup centers that were too big for Toppin to handle.
The Pacers led the NBA in bench scoring and field goal percentage in the regular season and in the playoffs, they finished second among playoff teams in total bench minutes and led them in bench scoring, bench field goal percentage and bench assists. McConnell and Toppin finished 1-2 in total bench points with 200 and 185 respectively and McConnell's 86 playoff assists were 46 more than any bench player.
This year's Pacers bench has functioned a little differently all season in part because the roster went through so much injury-based upheaval. Centers Jackson and James Wiseman suffered season-ending Achilles tendon tears in the season's first week. Starting shooting guard Andrew Nembhard (knee tendinitis) and small forward Aaron Nesmith (ankle sprain) and the reserve Sheppard (strained oblique) missed extensive time early in the season with Nesmith missing 35 games from Nov. 1 to Jan. 16. In November the Pacers found themselves starting two-way contract guard Quenton Jackson. They signed then cut center Moses Brown, then traded for Thomas Bryant who became the full-time backup center and later signed Tony Bradley out of the G League to make sure they had a third center.
McConnell and Toppin have remained pillars of the second unit but there's been fairly constant change elsewhere on the bench. Second-year wings Sheppard and Jarace Walker have seen their minutes rise and fall and rise again. Bennedict Mathurin started the year on the bench, moved into the starting lineup when Nesmith was hurt, stayed there for a month after he returned, went back to the bench but moved to the starting lineup any time there was an injury-related absence in the starting lineup.
Perhaps as a result, the Pacers bench hasn't had as strong of a true second unit this year as it did at any time last year, and Carlisle has more frequently tried to make sure he has at least one starter on the floor at all times, frequently deploying one of All-Stars Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam along with units of four bench players.
The Pacers fell from first to seventh in bench scoring and though they ranked first in bench field goal percentage, their most frequently used true, five-sub second unit played just 41 minutes together this year and posted a -9.3 net rating per game. The next most frequently used second units played 20 minutes and 19 minutes respectively. One of those had a +27.3 net rating and the other was -8.2. After the Pacers clinched 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 as currently constituted works for their style of play because it gives them defensive versatility — Mathurin, Sheppard, Walker and Toppin can all defend and play multiple positions. They might not have the most cohesive unit offensively, but all of them play with energy which is the most important thing they can do on the floor.
They're also willing to pick up full court and take on tough assignments. McConnell, Mathurin and Sheppard have all picked up ball-handlers 94 feet in the playoffs and Walker had to guard Giannis Antetokounmpo for periods in the first round.
"It's playing to exhaustion," McConnell said. "That tires other guys out. Our depth, if all of us are able to do that, it's hard to play against us for 48 minutes. We press all year to get ready for a series like this in the playoffs. We just gotta continue to play extremely hard on both ends of the floor."
McConnell sets the standard of making sure they do. The 33-year-old and 10th-year NBA veteran has made a career out of full-court pressure and his proven success inspires the rest of the squad to follow his lead.
"T.J. is the head of the snake there," Haliburton said. "He's like the big bro. Everybody kind of follows his lead. Benn Mathurin, Walk, Shepp, all those guys got here when T.J. was here. They see what he does and he's grown a hell of a career by being a guy who's going to pick up 94 feet and do all the little things. I think those guys see that and they want to do the same thing. It's contagious. When you see a guy diving in the floor playing hard, you want to do the same thing."
McConnell, Toppin and Mathurin — who missed last year's playoffs with a torn labrum — have been able to rely on consistent postseason minutes with each averaging at least 15 minutes per game in the playoffs. Mathurin is sixth among all bench players in the playoffs in total points with McConnell ninth and Toppin 12th. McConnell is tied for the lead in total assists with 27.
For Bryant, Walker and Sheppard, minutes have been more sporadic. Walker and Sheppard in particular have seen changes and shifts in their minutes all year. Sheppard 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 past three games. Walker played 21 minutes in Game 4 against the Bucks and 3:24 in Game 2 against the Cavs, and he's hit a lot of data points in between.
Carlisle has told both to stay ready for anything and neither has gone into games with much certainty as to their roles, but they've maintained focus.
"One common theme for how I get playing time on the court is bringing energy and making winning plays and doing the hard work and the gritty stuff," said Sheppard, who averaged 19.7 minutes per game in last year's playoffs with appearances in all 17 games but has averaged just 11.4 per game this year with two DNPs. "My situation is different in terms of assignments and stuff like that, but it's being ready and knowing my strengths and not doing anything to be detrimental to the team."
Collectively, the Pacers bench's stats aren't as impressive as they were a year ago in the playoffs. They're fifth so far in points per game, fifth in assists, eighth in 3-pointers and sixth in 3-point percentage even though they do lead all playoff teams in field goal percentage. But their most important assignment is to help produce a wear-down effect, and that's an assignment they're fulfilling.
"We're not a team with one guy who's going to do everything every game," Haliburton said. "We preach depth all the time. We have a lot of different guys who contribute and are a big part of what we do."
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers' 11-man rotation is wearing down Cavaliers in NBA playoffs
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The No. 1 seed Cavs were exhausted after squandering a 20-point lead in Game 2 — including a seven-point lead in the last 48 seconds — to fall behind 2-0 in the series, but they weren't surprised to be that tired. They knew going in that the Pacers' overall combination of defensive pressure and offensive pace was unlike anything they'd dealt with all year and they expected them to step it up in the postseason. They were expecting what they expected to feel, but with more disappointment after having failed to withstand it in two home games to start the series.
"It's tough to prepare for that pace," Cavs star Donovan Mitchell said in shootaround Tuesday before Game 2. "It's tough to replicate that in practice. Obviously, going through it, getting a feel for it is obviously good. They're unique. They're the only team that really runs like that in the playoffs."
The Pacers have started to refer to it as the "wear-down effect," and it's a big part of what gives them confidence late in games. It's why they maintained belief in themselves both in Game 2 against the Cavs and in Game 5 against the Bucks when they came back from 20-point deficits and another seven-point deficit with 48 seconds to go. It helped them outlast the Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season and it's helped them outlast teams throughout this year as they've earned 24 wins this season in "clutch" situations when games are within five points in any of the last five minutes.
"There's always time on the clock," center Myles Turner said after the Game 2 win. "We know how our pressure wears on teams."
Becoming that unique has required the Pacers and coach Rick Carlisle to make decisions that go against convention and against Carlisle's coaching history. But after a 10-15 start this season, the Pacers devoted themselves to winning by being relentless, continuing to look for any opportunity to fast break as they had the past two seasons but also more frequently utilizing full-court man-to-man pressure like they did in last year's playoffs.
The Pacers went 40-17 in the regular season after that and then took down the Bucks 4-1 in the first round. They leaned into their depth in the regular season and even though playoffs generally lead coaches to shrink their rotations, the Pacers have effectively extended theirs, using not just 10 players but 11 to keep fresh legs coming in the game and making sure their starters have enough juice in their legs to finish games strong.
"It gives us latitude to be able to make adjustments based on personnel, based on matchups those kinds of things," Carlisle said. "... We need everybody. It's as simple as that."
The Pacers leaned heavily on their bench last year in the playoffs as well, but put more responsibility in the hands of fewer bench players. The rotation was effectively nine men with veteran point guard T.J. McConnell, high-flying forward Obi Toppin and high-energy wing Ben Sheppard getting most of the bench minutes and center Isaiah Jackson getting work at the 5 when the Pacers faced backup centers that were too big for Toppin to handle.
The Pacers led the NBA in bench scoring and field goal percentage in the regular season and in the playoffs, they finished second among playoff teams in total bench minutes and led them in bench scoring, bench field goal percentage and bench assists. McConnell and Toppin finished 1-2 in total bench points with 200 and 185 respectively and McConnell's 86 playoff assists were 46 more than any bench player.
This year's Pacers bench has functioned a little differently all season in part because the roster went through so much injury-based upheaval. Centers Jackson and James Wiseman suffered season-ending Achilles tendon tears in the season's first week. Starting shooting guard Andrew Nembhard (knee tendinitis) and small forward Aaron Nesmith (ankle sprain) and the reserve Sheppard (strained oblique) missed extensive time early in the season with Nesmith missing 35 games from Nov. 1 to Jan. 16. In November the Pacers found themselves starting two-way contract guard Quenton Jackson. They signed then cut center Moses Brown, then traded for Thomas Bryant who became the full-time backup center and later signed Tony Bradley out of the G League to make sure they had a third center.
McConnell and Toppin have remained pillars of the second unit but there's been fairly constant change elsewhere on the bench. Second-year wings Sheppard and Jarace Walker have seen their minutes rise and fall and rise again. Bennedict Mathurin started the year on the bench, moved into the starting lineup when Nesmith was hurt, stayed there for a month after he returned, went back to the bench but moved to the starting lineup any time there was an injury-related absence in the starting lineup.
Perhaps as a result, the Pacers bench hasn't had as strong of a true second unit this year as it did at any time last year, and Carlisle has more frequently tried to make sure he has at least one starter on the floor at all times, frequently deploying one of All-Stars Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam along with units of four bench players.
The Pacers fell from first to seventh in bench scoring and though they ranked first in bench field goal percentage, their most frequently used true, five-sub second unit played just 41 minutes together this year and posted a -9.3 net rating per game. The next most frequently used second units played 20 minutes and 19 minutes respectively. One of those had a +27.3 net rating and the other was -8.2. After the Pacers clinched 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 as currently constituted works for their style of play because it gives them defensive versatility — Mathurin, Sheppard, Walker and Toppin can all defend and play multiple positions. They might not have the most cohesive unit offensively, but all of them play with energy which is the most important thing they can do on the floor.
They're also willing to pick up full court and take on tough assignments. McConnell, Mathurin and Sheppard have all picked up ball-handlers 94 feet in the playoffs and Walker had to guard Giannis Antetokounmpo for periods in the first round.
"It's playing to exhaustion," McConnell said. "That tires other guys out. Our depth, if all of us are able to do that, it's hard to play against us for 48 minutes. We press all year to get ready for a series like this in the playoffs. We just gotta continue to play extremely hard on both ends of the floor."
McConnell sets the standard of making sure they do. The 33-year-old and 10th-year NBA veteran has made a career out of full-court pressure and his proven success inspires the rest of the squad to follow his lead.
"T.J. is the head of the snake there," Haliburton said. "He's like the big bro. Everybody kind of follows his lead. Benn Mathurin, Walk, Shepp, all those guys got here when T.J. was here. They see what he does and he's grown a hell of a career by being a guy who's going to pick up 94 feet and do all the little things. I think those guys see that and they want to do the same thing. It's contagious. When you see a guy diving in the floor playing hard, you want to do the same thing."
McConnell, Toppin and Mathurin — who missed last year's playoffs with a torn labrum — have been able to rely on consistent postseason minutes with each averaging at least 15 minutes per game in the playoffs. Mathurin is sixth among all bench players in the playoffs in total points with McConnell ninth and Toppin 12th. McConnell is tied for the lead in total assists with 27.
For Bryant, Walker and Sheppard, minutes have been more sporadic. Walker and Sheppard in particular have seen changes and shifts in their minutes all year. Sheppard 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 past three games. Walker played 21 minutes in Game 4 against the Bucks and 3:24 in Game 2 against the Cavs, and he's hit a lot of data points in between.
Carlisle has told both to stay ready for anything and neither has gone into games with much certainty as to their roles, but they've maintained focus.
"One common theme for how I get playing time on the court is bringing energy and making winning plays and doing the hard work and the gritty stuff," said Sheppard, who averaged 19.7 minutes per game in last year's playoffs with appearances in all 17 games but has averaged just 11.4 per game this year with two DNPs. "My situation is different in terms of assignments and stuff like that, but it's being ready and knowing my strengths and not doing anything to be detrimental to the team."
Collectively, the Pacers bench's stats aren't as impressive as they were a year ago in the playoffs. They're fifth so far in points per game, fifth in assists, eighth in 3-pointers and sixth in 3-point percentage even though they do lead all playoff teams in field goal percentage. But their most important assignment is to help produce a wear-down effect, and that's an assignment they're fulfilling.
"We're not a team with one guy who's going to do everything every game," Haliburton said. "We preach depth all the time. We have a lot of different guys who contribute and are a big part of what we do."
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers' 11-man rotation is wearing down Cavaliers in NBA playoffs
Continue reading...
