Pacers' Victor Oladipo well on his way to securing first all-star bid
Jim Ayello- Knicks at Pacers, 7 p.m. Monday, FSI
INDIANAPOLIS -- As the Indiana Pacers prepared to embark on a new era, one holdover from the old boldly predicted that come Feb. 18, 2018, the Pacers and their fans would be watching a pair of familiar faces squaring off against the best the NBA has to offer.
“I think we’re going to have two all-stars this year,” Lance Stephenson said with a smile at media day. “Victor … and I think Myles (Turner).”
While Turner has been excellent of late, he still has some work to do to prove worthy of earning his first NBA All-Star bid.
The same cannot be said of Oladipo.
The Pacers have easily been one of the biggest surprises in the league. Projected by most experts across the NBA landscape to win around 30 games, the Pacers enter Monday night’s contest against New York Knicks 12-11 and on pace to shatter those preseason predictions.
While many Pacers have played important roles in keeping the team in the playoff hunt, there is little question Oladipo has been the face of the Pacers’ surprising start.
And while Oladipo is more concerned about the playoffs than securing the outside validation of an all-star game bid to confirm what he already knows -- that he’s playing the best basketball of his professional career -- the 25-year-old guard would be lying if he said he didn’t want it.
“I’m not going to say it wouldn’t mean a lot to me, but it’s also not something I can control,” Oladipo said after Sunday’s practice at St. Vincent’s Center, two days after a season-best 36-point outburst against Toronto. “It would be a honor to represent the Indiana Pacers as an all-star on all-star weekend, but that’s out of my control.”
While the nomination itself is out of his control, Oladipo is doing all he can to force the issue.
At 23.4 points per game, Oladipo ranks 12th in the NBA in scoring and fourth in the Eastern Conference, tied with a three-time all-star in the Raptors’ DeMar DeRozan. Even more impressive about Oladipo’s scoring, however, has been the consistency and efficiency that have accompanied it. Since Nov. 1, a span of 15 games, Oladipo has failed to score at least 20 just four times. He shot better that 46 percent from the field in November, which believe it or not, lowered his season average to a still-career-high 47.9 percent. Among qualified shooting guards, that’s seventh highest in the league.
There is no doubt, Pacers point guard Darren Collison said recently, that Oladipo is playing at an all-star level.
“He’s been so consistent every night,” the veteran said of Oladipo, who has helped lead the Pacers to the sixth-highest scoring offense in the league (108.6). “He’s a big part of our success and why we’re playing so well. He’s scoring at a much better rate than we’ve seen from him (before). He just looks comfortable. And he’s doing it on both ends. He’s playing defense and just doing everything for us as a team leader. That’s what we need.”
Collison, of course, is correct. Oladipo’s contributions span beyond just his ability to put the ball in the basket. He ranks top 10 in the NBA in both deflections (3.0) and steals (1.9) per game, and his 1.1 blocks per game are tops among guards. In fact, Oladipo can count himself as one of five players in the NBA to average better than 20 points per game along with at least four rebounds, a block and a steal. Joining him are LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins.
Oladipo’s all-around production has led to 1.1 “Value Over Replacement” (like WAR in baseball, a single number that attempts to capture all of a player's value) rating from basketball reference -- 17th highest in the league and ninth in the East. In fact, his 1.1 rating is slightly better than the man he was traded for: Paul George.
But none of those individual numbers really matter, Oladipo said Sunday. It’s all about wins and losses. If the Pacers win enough, the individual accolades will come. Until then, all he can is keep pushing himself and his team.
“I’m in here every day giving blood, sweat and tears,” Oladipo said. “At the end of the day, that’s all that really matters. I want to be the best, be the greatest, and if people see what I’m doing, that’s cool. But if they don’t, that’s OK. I’m still going to keep working.”
Three things to know about Monday’s opponents, the New York Knicks:
- Monday’s game will be an early-season revenge opportunity for the Pacers, who surrendered a 19-point lead and fell 108-101 when these teams met in New York on Nov. 5. That defeat was the second in a four-game losing streak, the longest drought the Pacers have suffered this season. The Pacers enter Monday having already dropped two in a row.
- One player who would be sure to join Oladipo in Los Angeles for all-star weekend is Knicks big man Kristaps Porzingis. Entering Sunday, the 7-3 Latvian was scoring 25.8 points per game and shooting nearly 40 percent from beyond the 3-point line. However, the Pacers may catch a break by avoiding Porzingis, as he is both dealing with an illness and sprained right ankle. Porzingis scored 40 points when these teams last met.
- Monday’s matchup will the first of a six-game home stand for the Pacers. Indiana is just 6-4 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse this year and 6-7 on the road. While their six victories away from the fieldhouse are tied for third-most in the Eastern Conference, their six home wins are tied for eighth.
More Pacers:
- Pacers can't take rare six-game home stand for granted
- Pacers' Bogdanovic proving he knows a little something about playing defense
Follow IndyStar Sports reporter Jim Ayello on Twitter and Instagram: @jimayello.