How Jarace Walker has developed, why the Indiana Pacers bench has been great, Pacers defense legit?

How Jarace Walker has developed, why the Indiana Pacers bench has been great, Pacers defense legit?

What to make of jarus Walker’s recent improvements for the Pacers where has he grown the most can he keep playing like this for the Pacers plus the Pacers bench keeps winning against starters can they keep it up past California big game tonight will explain why with Derek

Kramer all on today’s locked on Pacers podcast you are locked on Pacers your daily Indiana Pacers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what up y’all happy Wednesday and welcome into another edition of the lockdown Pacers podcast where we of course talk about the Indiana Pacers as

Always my name’s Tony East I cover the team for Forbes and Si and today we’re diving in to some topics toour on the Pacer starting with jarus Walker the story of their Monday game recently playing better in his rotational spots can this be a thing where has he

Developed for the Pacers Derek Kramer from my Pacers blog and I chatt it up about jarus Walker with some takes about the rotation and jarus going forward plus the bench and Pascal an amazing unit that keeps winning fourth quarters is that a sustainable thing some crazy numbers there and a big game tonight

Against the Bulls we explain why at the end with many other tidbits in between Derek I Pacers blog and I dive right into it let’s just jump right in he’s back he needs a little introduction I should have had him on talking about Miles Turner bling the breaking the

Block record because he has tracked every block for Miles Turner during his career it’s Derek Kramer from I Pacer’s blog and Derek we’re not talking about Miles Turner today I apologize are you also incessantly watching the heat Warrior score right now I was I was watching the the whole first half and

Then I uh was getting ready for this so I haven’t watched it and the Warriors are going on a run so I should just not pay attention to it anymore apparently and Let It Go may it might finish while we’re recording so you can hear us see

What the Pacers are are looking at scoreboard watching tonight I would I don’t know if they actually react but I would love to like somehow have a camera view of Kevin Pritchard seeing the Jimmy Butler out illness notification hit his phone in the middle of the day before

The game uh we’re gonna start Derek talking Pacers with jerus Walker the story of Monday’s game by far and it’s crazy how an eight-point game can look so impressive compared to where he has been all season because the passing was great the defense was great and he was

So impactful that Rick said you know what you’re playing the whole second quarter you’re starting the second half you’re gon to be out there and I talked about it some yesterday but I’m curious to you because this obviously that game was to me at least his most impressive

Game but even when he was in the rotation for that needed stretch earlier this month right was very good in the overtime loss to Chicago was good against Minnesota when they needed him for a good chunk of minutes like you could see he was bad in Orlando but you

Could see in most of his appearances like yes there are signs of progress for jerus Walker even outside of his best games where have you seen him improve the most and what does does that mean anything this season or is it still just if there’s injuries he’s going to be

Useful and if there’s not he’s not gonna play improvements uh interesting way cuz like his passings always popped but I don’t I’ve never like seven assists with like how little he really touches the ball on offense and the way he got those assists like they weren’t just like

Swinging it to the next guy in a like a rotation of the ball just kind of moving like he’s finding people in Rhythm like the broken play where I think toppen lost the ball in the paint and he just kind of the ball just comes to him and

He just instantly knows that Pascal’s open right under the basket and then like the he’s about to take a shot and finds Jaylen Smith like the the passing prowess that he has is just awesome to watch um but I don’t know if that’s like where you’d say his most Improvement

Like you expected him to be defense first but that’s kind of been where you’ve seen the steady growth throughout the year it seems like like even in summer league like Jano Paro was talking about how they just need him to gamble less to kind of stay solid like old Nate

McMillan phrase and like seems like that’s where he’s gotten better as the years goes on like put him out there against Paul George at the beginning of the year I don’t think that goes as well as it did last night I don’t want to say that early in the season the ball would

Stick like it would get to jarrison he wouldn’t know what to do but what what makes his seven assists against the Clippers to pop to me is he’d catch and move it right flip it to someone else he he had the read ready when the ball came

His way if that me to dribble or shoot too he did the right thing Ian he made all his shots so it’s easy to say that but to make the decision quickly and I actually talked to him before they played the Pistons that his locker in

Detroit and he said like the thing that has kind of ignited to him the better play is that the game is slowing down right the rookie phrase that everybody uses where you get to the league and everyone’s huge and everyone’s fast and you’re not the best player anymore and

So you have to like catch up to the speed of the game and sometimes that’s recognizing a pattern quicker sometimes that’s knowing where space is going to be sometimes it’s just that you’ve had the Reps and you’ve watched the film so much on all these guys that you now

Understand where the advantages are all that stuff’s coming quicker to him right and so when you’re playing a Clippers team that is old and creaky for lack of a better term you know the fact that he made those quick pop get it out do the right thing decisions really stood out

To me and you know I talked to you a lot pre-draft about why I liked him the most of all the natural fits and to me the passing was the thing that I like the most on offense because I thought even if the shot never comes this can be a

Useful player and that is is now showing up even with the shot being kind of a thing I don’t know if I buy it yet not because I don’t think he can sustain it it’s just been such a small sample that I have no actual takeaways from him

Making the threes he’s made so far but to but to just have the game slowed down for him already right he’s not even at 40 NBA games yet like that is I think that’s good he’s not even at 30 NBA games yet like that’s huge for the

Pacers I think that speaks volumes about what he could be if the shot keeps falling and if he’s able to kind of explore some space because like with some rookies I’m rambling here but with some rookies like teams are like uh oh when they put the ball on the floor

Right it’s like scary you know you don’t know if it’s going to be a turnover or something bad’s gonna happen or they’re gonna take a bad shot I very rarely he takes jarus takes some off the dribble threes and I’m like I don’t know about that but I very rarely think he does

Something that I’m like why did he do that you know what was the thinking that went into that and I think that combined with quick decision- making has been where I’ve seen him kind of evolve the most from September J Walker to March jerus Walker yeah I think even the like

Talking about the off the dribble threes like the ones that he’s taken it seems like they’ve they’ve gone in so it’s hard to it’s hard to say he’s taking bad shots when he’s making even the tough ones he made like I can’t remember which which of his mini random flash in the

Pan feels like since he’s not consistently in the rotation where he just like hits multiple back-to-back step back three-pointers and all that um that’s probably like you talking about Improvement like that’s like he’s what 38% like like you said maybe it’s not real yet but like that’s better than you

Could have expected his rookie year for his shooting to go so far um you’d rather be skeptical of a guy who has made them than skeptical of a guy who has not right also exactly um I’m getting notifications um one thing the that I like I just looked at

So I was curious because it didn’t feel like Walker was like touching the ball much yesterday so I was like what was his like actual usage rate for the game against the Clippers so a guy with eight points seven assists can I guess is it like seven

Seven percent even less 4.7% usage rate and he had eight points and seven assists so like it’s kind of crazy like most of the time he was just standing in the corner and then like and then he would make a play if the ball came to him like

Even the the three made where Tyrese just read the defense was just sagging so far off of him on the out of bounds play like he took advantage of it he caught the ball hit the shot like obviously you’re not gonna expect him to he’s not gonna make every one of his

Shots every night or anything like that but just like he he’s it’s been so exciting to see and I think the the most exciting part about his rookie season so far is that he’s doing a lot of this at the three and not he’s not only been

Playing the four or the like I expected Jared if like jarus was gonna have positional versatility it was going to be as like a 45 not as a 34 as a wing like he looks like a wing and not like a big and I think that’s probably the

Biggest development of his rookie season yeah I agree with that last part a lot and like the fact we’ll talk about this in a second but a lineup will get to a lot today in in a future discussion has seaka Walker together and I think that’s been a fascinating sort of Quasi

Development this feel too Pacers colored glasses he so feel free to make tell me if this sounds stupid but having like having that small of a usage but the team’s still keeping you out there says a lot about what you did with those limited touches and like you actually

Did something important with them and you weren’t killing the team being out there being basically a zero without the ball and it says a lot about his defensive value in that game that they wanted him to play like I talked about this yesterday but him and McConnell got

Caught in that two-man game with kawhai and Russ and he shut down and they forced a Westbrook three that he air balled and went out of bounds like that’s huge for him that’s not something he he would have the first time kawhai shot faked when Russ returned him the

Ball early in the season he’s jumping right he’s in the air right like that that’s progress It’s all sorts of little stuff like that throughout the game so yeah I mean at some point his usage has to be bigger than that but that that is progress for him and yeah I agree that

Especially if he can be a wing like I don’t know what his dream the ideal jerus Walker position is because maybe it is three maybe it’s four maybe it’s five who knows who really cares it’s first season but if it can be on the wing and he can guard those guys because

He is Shifty and quick enough that’s huge that’s a development that I very few people talked about including myself before the season yes I have nothing else to add uh so with the the other part I asked you about that we didn’t really touch on is do you think like if they’re

Fully healthy do you think he’s playing now do you think he’s still out to me it’s been interesting because M McDermot wasn’t good against the Lakers but in general or the Clippers he’s been like fine on the road trip and gives them something they need with the shooting

But has he been good enough that you’d rather play him over Jaris that’s the discussion right and that’s if they go 10 Deep now because the starting five seems pretty set and then Shepard McConnell top and Smith seem pretty set so if they go to a 10th guy should it be

Jarus now right or do they have a short lease with him how would you handle that now I would play jarus I don’t think he will play as my I agree my take at least currently I don’t I think when they get to the playoffs if they get to the

Playoffs all of that um like Doug and jarus probably both out of the rotation I don’t think they’ll try to go 10 Deep is my guess um I would like jarus to play and get some some minutes in some of these like hug usually impactful games over

The rest of the season and in the playoffs I think that would be awesome for his development and just like he makes so much happen he’s very versatile like you see it when he gets those minutes like he’s he’s a valuable player I just I don’t know if I don’t know if

Rick’s there yet and we’ll see yeah I yeah it’s tough like if mcder had a terrible road trip like completely awful I think you know J would have been as effective as him then it’s easy and I I’m not saying that Doug was better than jarus but he had enough effective games

Doing the thing that they’ve been bad at since the break like okay like maybe they’ll keep trying it but this is silly like I don’t want to over make this point but they did better in some of these games against terrible teams and they had a four game buffer over the

Heat right now they could be playing jarus down the stretch of the season and then just not playing in the playoffs that’s not hero there hey guys short little break here so we can talk about the lovely f over at eBay Motors passion drive and patience what brings home the winning

Trophy is also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance from superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you’re into speed power or style eBay Motors has got you covered with over 122

Million parts for your number one Rider die you’ll always find exactly what you’re looking for and with eBay’s guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed that’s nice to fit you ride every time or you’ll get your money back because with eBay motors your burning rubber not

Cash with all the parts you need at the prices you win it is easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that win so keep your rider. live at ebaymotors.com eligible items only exclusion Supply eBay guaranteed fit only available to us customers DK I want to talk about

Something that keeps happening and I don’t get it every game this seems to happen the fourth quarter this isn’t happening every game but very frequently of late the Pacers have entered the fourth quarter with a lead this happened against the Clippers this happened against the Warriors this happened

Against the Mavs twice I believe I think this happened against the Thunder as well they enter the fourth quarter with a lead somewhere between like six and 14 right so the game is not over but they’re winning and this is their rotation it has been all season where

They start the second and fourth quarters or they largely bench group if not all bench group not all five and we’ve seen recently Luca and Kyrie are out there at start of the fourth quarter Steph clay and Draymond out there to start the fourth quarter Shay’s out

There to start the fourth quarter last night kawhai PG and uh Russ I don’t think Harden was but Russ was all of them were out there to start the fourth quarter and every time I go okay this is a big stretch right can the bench hold the lead until one of seaker Halbert

Returns and every time every time they do it how I know they’re like a very good bench group perhaps the best in the NBA as like a full group together right but it just it’s it’s very shocking to me they maybe I’m selling them short but like I

Don’t think of them as better than the team starters even if I think they’re a bad good bench group so part of it is to me I’ll get to this in a second the SE yakum plush bench groups in the fourth quarter have been awesome but even in the minutes without them they’re

Succeeding I think that’s been a very interesting trend of late and and I don’t I don’t get it not to I feel like I’m being mean to them by saying I don’t get it but like it’s been fascinating to me yeah I think the biggest thing is the

The Pascal plus bench yes I think that’s completely changed like they don’t have to we get there but yes just like just having those the two stars that can really lead an offense and then being able to uh split their minutes and like have them carry lineups has just been awesome

To watch um and then I think it’s just like I you can’t give enough praise to TJ McConnell who started the year like looking like he’s gonna be out of the rotation and like now should probably at least be getting some Buzz at least a little buzz for some Sixth Man of the

Year candidacy like I don’t think he should win it but he was better than the guy I would vote for for Sixth Man of the Year last night yeah there you go there you go yeah it’s like it’s just like it’s it’s incredible how like even lineups where I

Feel like like is there enough shooting for this bench group to like function and like TJ McConnell just finds his little Baseline twos on repeat anytime they need a bucket like it’s just it’s fascinating to watch uh like he’s he’s 32 now and he’s still still just outruns

Everybody on the court like I I don’t know if it’s just like the starters that are on the court like they’re a little more worn out than than he is and he’s always going full throttle and then just everybody else fall suit with that like

It’s yeah it’s I don’t get it either but uh it’s it’s enjoy to watch so my people suggested kind of what you I tweeted this during the Clippers game people were like is it the pace is it that they play so fast teams tired like maybe but it wasn’t happening earlier in the

Season and they they played fast all season if I had to come up with two theories one would be what you just said McConnell has been so good since the All-Star break like like one of their best two three four players since the All-Star break I mean he’s been

Unbelievable he’s hitting 60 plus percent of his shots every game he runs that offense his defense is pesky like he’s just been awesome that alone means that that unit can be good they have a good ball handle on the floor all the time even without the

Stars my theory too is and Dustin doak’s been all over this all season but it’s really come to FR recently is like makes their bench good beyond that it’s good players like you saw this with the Clippers last night a lot of teams use their benches like two bench guys with

These starters and then a different two guys with different starters like they’re mixing matching throughout the game the Pacers bench all five or four or whatever together like fits and makes sense right it’s like a lineup that doesn’t suck and I think that’s valuable too that you can steal those minutes in

That way and then if the fifth guy is one of your stars it even more makes sense but that has helped to those are my theories can I toss you some numbers about Pas California uh and the okay all right so this is not fourth quarter this is all Pascal cakam plus

The bench lineup so this is pcal sakam on the floor and none of n Smith Halbert and Ne harder Turner on the floor okay the Pacers have played 100 7 minutes what do you think their plus minuses in those instances so Pascal and no starters in 107 minutes uh plus

38 that that would be really good wouldn’t it they’re better plus 44 in7 minutes with Pascal and no other starters their offensive rating would you care to guess uh 129 that would be pretty good wouldn’t it 139 point2 right now they have scored 316 points in 227 possessions in those

Instances that’s obviously insane and unsustainable their defense has not been good 122.5 defensive rating you’d hope that’s better but they it doesn’t matter they just score every possession um the the most common group so far has been McConnell Shepard Walker Smith SE yakum uh 27 minutes plus 38 just it’s just

Crazy how good that’s been and that’s across all quarters of a game not just the fourth so I look that is 46.7% on threes and 60% on twos I think they can maybe sniff that two-o percentage the threes are going to stop being that crazy at some point so that’s

Not going to hold like that high but clearly there’s something about this that has been working so far even in this small sample that’s just been ridiculous right and that those lineups have just crushed teams in a meaningful way and maybe they can continue to have an insane offensive rating because it’s

Pascal yakum against another team’s bench would you like me to give you the fourth quarter numbers of the exact same scenario yes okay 28 minutes we’ve had so far SE we’ve seen so far excuse me uh with Pas galak and four bench players in the fourth quarter in those 28 minutes

Would you care to guess they’re plus minus so in 28 minutes they’re plus 44 and 107 so let’s go uh plus 28 that’d be pretty good A that is right it’s plus 26 that was very close that’s still awesome winning time they’ve been amazing 93 points on 56 possessions

166 166 offensive R that’s insane that’s not even possible 72% on twos 60% on threes that’s 15 threes and 36 twos so those are not going to hold but the the putting of this 100 minute sample so far is like oh my God this has been like a

Transformative thing for the Pacers that the bridge from their starters to their bench is just an insane lineup and so even if if their starters start the game poorly they catch up right away even if they’re behind a little bit in the second quarter early in the fourth they

Catch up if they’re ahead by big they’re going to win like that that’s just been the case with this and I think that has been absolutely fascinating because they tried it with Halbert and I’ll pull up those numbers in a second but seaka plus the bench maybe this won’t hold forever

But so far has been unbelievably good yeah I think one one thing like we uh talked about whether Walker should play over Doug like Walker was in that plus 38 group that you said is that correct so there if you want an argument for some numbers argument for Walker

Over Doug the rest of the year there it is uh okay oops I just I forgot how to do this and this is now gonna sort poorly because I did the wrong guys uh Halton plus the bench so halberton no starters this season 163 minutes minus

11 right and it’s been fine the fact that they can like minus 11 with four bench players every team will take that in 160 minutes but they’ll also take Plus 40 whatever also over it so I I don’t know what to make of this they the bench is better than star players thing

Early in fourth quarters like there’s going to be one game where someone just melts them right but they have found something with their current rotational pattern so much so that even without Aon Smith on Monday they went to it anyway right and it worked it was huge and they

And they held off the clippers for that early fourth quarter stretch and I don’t think we saw James Harden again the whole game right like they put the game away they cleared their bench with a few minutes to go so I’m not certain about if they can hold it its current Elite

Level but that has been uh you know Rick talked about wanting to have one of the stars on for 48 minutes a couple weeks ago and asked him about it that has been as they’ve kind of evolved with their bench and their rotation through all these injuries a big takeaway for them

Is that this is something that works yeah I like I can’t remember a team for the Pacers that like had two guys like that like Sher Tyrese’s 11 with the bench but you know he’s he’s been here the whole year and like that’s a that’s

A there’s a lot of noise in there and even just to play him even with one star and your bench is like not that bad so like just to have those two stars to be able to do this like I can’t think of a

Team like how far do you have to go back to where you really think the the Pacers had two guys that they could individually say okay you can really run the offense right now like the 20134 team was trying to do it with Lance and

I love Lance but like he’s not a number one option you shouldn’t be in in any lineup yeah agreed they have found something here we’ll see I again I they’re not like any 100 minute sample with a 139 offensive rating is says a lot about sample sizes in the NBA but

They got something here we will see how much it can hold and all they needed to hold for is like five or six more games they might secure a playoff spot last thing to get to before we dabble on the Bulls the smallest amount mostly because I just want to share something important

About tonight’s game one more break here guys let’s first talk about Fire TV Amazon’s destination for sports live games highlights in-depth analysis everything you could desire plus more on Fire TV which offers amazing viewing experiences with Smart TVs as well as the Fire TV stick that you can plug into existing

TVs to provide access to million of of course Sports Plus movies TV episodes as well as free and live TV whether it’s opening weekend for baseball or the college basketball tournament you are going to want to have a fire TV Fire TV recently created Fire TV channels to

Deliver a constant supply of the latest videos from your favorite sports brands all for free that includes all of us here at lockon plus most of the big Pro leagues and college conferences as well Fire TV channels lets you dive into all of the game analysis highlights and more

To keep up toate on all the latest in the world Sports March manness NBA MLB and lots more not to mention great news entertainment gaming travel cooking videos as well check out Fire TV channels on Fire TV and Alexa devices if you haven’t checked Mount you should

Trust me you can see me on there to learn more visit amazon.com lockon Fire TV let’s also talk about Nissan are you the type of driver that loves to push things a little further or ever wondered what Adventure could be around the next corner while our friends at Nissan have

A lineup of SUVs with the capabilities to take your adventure to the next level like the 2024 Nissan Rogue the perfect vehicle for City drives and Great Escapes their class exclusive Google built-ins is you’re always updating assistant to callon for almost anything gone over the days of connecting your

Phone Google assisted Google Maps and Google Play Store are built right in to the 12.3in HD touchscreen infotainment system 2024 Rogue is perfect for Mid the perfect midsize crossover for your next adventure plus the 2024 Nissan Armada will change what you expect from a full-size SUV picture a rugged 4×4 that

Can see to eight In First Class luxury and style tow bigger and explore further in the 2024 Armada and don’t forget the Pathfinders as well take the Nissan Rogue Nissan Pathfinder or Nissan Armada and go find your next big adventure shop now at nissanusa.com uh Derek did you know this on the season

The Pacers no longer have a bottom five defense whoa that that is n they’re up to 20 fifth in defensive rating wow small Victor for the Pacers one spot out of the bottom five the bottom five is the Jazz Wizards Hornets Hawks and pistons so not great being above that

Group and they’re point eight away from 24th so they’re still like firmly in a bad tier the reason they’re out of the bottom five in defensive rating is because in March they have been a good defensive team not great but good currently in the month of March the

Pacers defensive rating is 17th at 114.0 they are .3 away from 14th and above average right the margins are thin without the Lakers game they were top 10 in defense in the month of March and that game was terrible and they deserve to be punished for it but they’re

Defending much better recently and entering that Lakers game in their last six games they were sixth in the league in defense and their offensive rating is sixth in the month of March so it hasn’t required a ton of sacrifice a little bit a little bit but not a ton what is this

A thing like are they actually an okay defensive team now is this going to be like late December where it’s good for like two weeks and then it kind of stumbles again what do you make of this is there something to this I think that they’re like they can

Legit at least like play decent defense I’m not going to say that like I know I tweeted out a few games ago like over their last 10 games they were six in the NBA and defensive rating yeah I don’t think that’s like a real thing but I

Think that they can be average now and I think a lot of it is just like putting past SC at the four lets n Smith guard threes and NIMH hard guard ones and ones or twos whichever one makes more sense in the matchup and like just just the

Lineups make more sense like that was one of the like pluses of getting a real power forward in Pascal and then like just like they’re definitely figuring it out I think the the laxing of the letting the defense play more physical or not calling the foul typically where

The the parallel lines and the offensive player runs into the other guy or whatever they said the focus was seems to be working for the Pacers to their advantage so far um other than the Lakers game like they haven’t had huge foul totals it seems like I don’t know

What the numbers look like for fouls lately if that’s how that cor fakers I know what we didn’t hear I didn’t say I didn’t talk about that at all no nothing um but yeah I think it’s like they’re not going to be amazing on that end but I like it seems like they

Can be adequate which is what they need if they can like have their offense and Tyrese be who he is and Pascal be anything close to what he’s been the last couple weeks like that’s what they need to have success so last two weeks this includes the Lakers game I did the

14th through the 28th which how is it almost March is over um last two weeks they are 12th excuse me last two weeks they’re 14th last three weeks so March 7th to the 28th they’re 12th and then last almost four weeks I only do this is intentional data manipulation I’m

Telling on myself every game in March except that Pelicans game where the craziest first quarter ever happened they’re above average they’re 14th right so that game happened they deserve to be dinged for it but you can almost go four full weeks of the Pacers being at above average defense with two anomalies the

Pelicans and the Lakers and the again those are bad games there’s a reason they’re below average I’m not saying they’ve been above average in this month but like you they have a legitimate sample now not embarrassing amount of Tom where it’s like oh this kind of a thing and like it was actually

Disappointing in that Lakers game like halberton was not as physical defensively and that’s been something he’s gotten better at at least to me this month right like they’ve seen some incremental uh improvements in their communication they’re not getting destroyed in the paint as much that was

You know that that game against the Nets where they just dominated the paint that was kind of a transition point in my head of like oh they’ve kind of emphasized how they’re defending so I don’t I don’t know like they have Lakers again who’ve been awesome on offense

Since the allstar break coming up OKC late next week like they have some good offenses that will test them still this season but this might be a thing they might be like a a mediocre defense instead of a bad defense and if their offense can hold they keep wobbling on

Results by losing close games but this seems like a the the the profile of a team that should be better than you know 500 in their last whatever games but here we are yeah the clutch games those clutch losses have definitely like makes it feel like they’re not they haven’t been

Playing as well as they have overall last four losses all by five or less yeah so like they’re not getting blown out of the water anytime lately even in the like the anomaly game with the Lakers like they still even with the all the stuff going on and giving up like

56% shooting and all that stuff they like they still made it a game at the end agreed we’ll see if this could hold I am fascinated by that I think that might be that might be the way they make the playoffs if they can hold their

Defense I mean I don’t want to say this this has never been a good thing for the Pacers schedule’s looking easier coming up soon uh another reason another uh another reason you could you can argue play jarus over Doug I’m just gonna bring that back every time yes if you

Want your defense to continue to be good uh jarus is definitely a better Defender than Doug mcder uh yeah McDermot uh to put it politically not known for his defense all right Pacers Bulls tonight this sounds crazy let me get to the point if the Pacers win they’ll clinch a

Tiebreaker over the Bulls likely doesn’t matter they’re way ahead of the Bulls in the standings the Bulls have lost three in a row as it stands the Pacers are six and a half games ahead of the bulls with like 10 to go they’re going to finish ahead of the Bulls they’re really going

To finish ahead of the Bulls if they beat them in this game uh and clinch the tiebreaker they would also clinch the tiebreaker over the Cavs if they beat the blls because that would be their 12th division win and so even if they lose to the Cavs at the end of the

Season they would be a half game better in division because they played an extra game than Cleveland even if the series is 2-2 so they would clinch two tiebreakers by winning one game even though both of them are super unlikely to actually matter the Cavs as it SS are only three

And a half ahead of the Pacers it’s not like insane to say that it could could matter but it probably won’t either way very important game from that perspective for the Pacers who have lost to the blls twice this season so they’ve not been an easy opponent but should

They pull that off they would have the tiebreaker over the two three four eight n and 10 seeds so and the TBD with the heat the only team they’ve lost it with is the Orlando Magic that’s actually relevant to the playoff standings for the Pacers so in that way an important

Game and also an important game because Derek I don’t want to jinx anything but there’s a minute and a half to go when Warriors Heat and the Warriors are up by 16 so the Pacers could be up a game and a half over the seven and eight seeds by

The time people are listening to this unless the most crazy comeback in NBA history happen so big game uh end of a road trip can be hard division game bulls have again already beaten them twice D rozan just kicked their beehinds but it’s an important game they got to get

It yes so like I don’t know what the it’s like how do you trick the Pacers into like thinking the like do you have to like tell them Demar D rozen’s Michael Jordan like does that on their way in tell them hey they rebuilt the United Center in your

Hometown so this is actually um Pacers Bulls in Ames Iowa or Detroit Michigan area or Dallas area that’s how they they did win in Chicago finnally enough and lost two at home to the bull but big game I mean they look they’ve basically already secured they’re going to be at worst

Eightth they’re like two games away from actually doing that not it’s more than that it’s close though if they win this game it’s almost impossible for them to not be top eight and they’d clinch a lot of tiebreakers and the Cavs not playing great like it’s a big it’s a big game it

Is a big game in a lot of ways they could still have the tiebreaker over the Cavs by just beating them later in the season but why not secure it now when you can so if they slow down dear I think they win that was L the only reason they lost

Last time Beyond like a fluke less than 10% circumstance happen to get into the game we’ll see I just find this game to be fascinating and important if they go four- one on this road trip I would never have expected that they’d be looking pretty good especially with this

Heat loss coming yeah very impressive road trip and uh challenging anytime you go out west that’s a that’s a very challenging road trip so important stretch here and yeah we’ll see if they can take care of business against these l teams that have given them problems all year and maybe that’s

Part of the isue they just they have that in their head like they know this team isn’t that good but they should probably like be respecting the opponent more than calling them a lesser opponent like maybe that’s part of it I don’t know I’m just I I’m so befuddled by the

By it all year that I don’t get it yeah I I act like I’m not trying to say it’s a good thing that they’ve lost six games to just absolutely awful teams I think people are being unfair when they say oh they they I’ve done this so I I’m also

Being unfair when we say oh they’d be in fourth or third if they had just cleaned up in those games yeah they’d also not be as good of a seed if they didn’t go like they probably one of the best records against the top four in each conference in the league so uh

They’re that’s why it’s frustrating like for a fan when they look at that like like why can you beat all of these like they’re one of like six teams with an above 500 record maybe even like only one of four teams in the East with an 500 record against like playoff teams

Like there’s not that many of them that are like have good records against the good teams but they like the but then you look at the like Bottom Feeders and it’s like they’re worse by like five games than any other playoff team they currently have 12 wins against the top four in each

Conference I know they have one more game in that against OKC at home too so they could even make that bigger uh and the Clippers if they pass the Pelicans still be 12 right so like that that’s so high clearly so on one hand you could be

Like oh they just cleaned up in these games yeah also like if they didn’t out kick their coverage for lack of a better term in these top end games uh maybe you wouldn’t be feeling the same way uh yeah as it stands though you’re right they

Are 24 and 20 against 500 or better teams do you know how many teams the entire NBA oh there’s more than I thought never mind uh the answer is five teams in the league have more than 24 wins against above 500 teams Minnesota OKC Denver Milwaukee barely and Boston

That’s it so yeah their their top end certainly looks good and the sixth best team in the league against winning teams yep like that’s that’s very impressive and you like that’s not something you can count on happening probably next year they have uh 12 losses against

Below 500 teams which is the most oh no there that’s the second most of any team play in or better NE conference do you know who has more losses against teams play in or better either conference who has more than 12 losses against sub 500

Teams um is it like the Bulls it is the Hawks you were on the right track just pick the worst team that is available to pick from this so again I hate to just keep shrugging and saying we’ll see but the Pacers have not given themselves the

Benefit of the doubt of pointing at their schedule or saying that they home heavy the rest of the way or anything like that they got a win and that starts tonight with Chicago Derek thank you for the time tell people where they can find the miles high club where you can see

Every player that Miles Turner who holds the franchise record for blacks have been heard blocked in his career all the rest of your working the Pacers still be credential for most of their home games the rest of the way and all the rest of your Pacer stuff yes you could see all

424 players uh in a nice little list of all the people that Miles Turner has blocked in his career uh started doing that in his rookie season just as like a joke with the miles high club thing and then you it was just a fun thing to do

Uh Andre Drummond the guy who has been blocked the most also the guy who has played milest Turner the most but that’s another story um yeah I pacers.com I Pacers blog on Twitter follow me I’m almost 7,000 I think you know who surprised me the most on The Blacklist for for

Miles who in ninth place right okay for for those who don’t know where here’s the top 10 I’m not going to say them in just just so you can see the surprise player LeBron played him a lot drives a lot Jimmy Butler bam Zack LaVine James Harden Demar Roan and Yannis Drummond

Guys he’s played a lot and guys around the basket a lot and sneaking into the top 10 for some freaking reason is bismack biombo how has he blocked bismack biombo so much I don’t get it I don’t know if he because part of like the playoff series against the Raptors

Like that’s why DeRozan’s up there because he blocked him like 10 times just in those seven games so like like his block totals for the franchise record doesn’t include playoffs like Germaine still has that if you include playoffs but like the the numbers are it’s crazy how high D rozan is just

Because of that series and I wonder if bomo I think he was on those Raptors teams if I remember correctly I think he’s gotten a few in that series as well so that might be part of it but it’s still like him and Cody Zeller are also

Like Cody Zeller’s way up there Cody Zeller has 10 10 of them yeah all the Kelly UB is surprising a little bit but he’s just rest like what how it’s a again fasc ining you should all go check it out you can see his first block all

The way to the record shout out to jichael Green a guy I thought the Pacers should sign several times for being first on the list tomorrow we’ll be talking Pacers Bulls I’ll be there we’ll talk about the game what happened the key story lines did the Pacers win what

Does that mean for their standings and of course we’ll do standings watch we’ll talk all the tiebreakers tomorrow in more detail I’ll even get into a little bit of three team tiebreaker stuff if the magic could go ahead and clinch their division that would make it a lot

Easier for me to do that exercise uh but a little bit of ways to go on that front thank you all ton for listening today have a wonderful day we’ll see you soon

Jarace Walker is developing, how and what does it mean for the Indiana Pacers? And why does the Pacers bench keep ending opponents? Host Tony East is joined by Derek Kramer from iPacersblog to break it all down and take a close look at the Pacers defense.

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPacers?sid=YouTube

Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNBA

📲 Follow Locked On Pacers on Twitter
Locked On Pacers https://twitter.com/lockedonpacers
Tony East https://twitter.com/TonyREast

#Pacers #IndianaPacers #NBA #PacersPodcast #IndianaPacersPodcast #TyreseHaliburton #BennedictMathurin #MylesTurner #PascalSiakam
Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
Amazon Fire TV
Fire TV recently created Fire TV Channels to deliver a constant supply of the latest videos from your favorite sports brands, all for free. That includes all of us at Locked On and most of the big pro leagues and college conferences as well. To Learn More, visit www.amazon.com/LockedOnFireTV

Nissan
Our friends at Nissan have a lineup of SUV’s with the capabilities to take your adventure to the next level. Take the Nissan Rogue, Nissan Pathfinder, or Nissan Armada and go find your next big adventure. Shop NissanUSA.com.

eBay Motors
For parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.

BetterHelp
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDONNBA today to get 10% off your first month.

PrizePicks
Go to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnba and use code lockedonnba for a first deposit match up to $100!

Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.

FanDuel
New customers, join today and you’ll get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS if your first bet of FIVE DOLLARS or more wins. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)