When the Indiana Pacers lost Victor Oladipo for the season due to a devastating knee injury back in January, it looked to be the end of the road for the Pacers, but instead, Indiana is fighting admirably to the finish the line.
One of the biggest reasons for the Pacers staying afloat is big man Domantas Sabonis, who has been a revelation for Indiana off the bench this season.
As a matter of fact, as a result of his 18-point, 12-rebound effort during Indy's win over the Detroit Pistons on Monday night, Sabonis now has the most double-doubles (25) for a a reserve since the 1991-92 campaign, when Detlef Schrempf racked up 38 while ironically playing for the Pacers:
Domantas Sabonis has recorded 25 double-doubles coming off the bench this season, the most such games by a reserve since Detlef Schrempf had 38 in 1991-92.
— Justin Kubatko (@jkubatko) April 2, 2019
On the season overall, Sabonis is averaging 14.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists over 24.8 minutes per game while shooting 58.9 percent from the floor and 71.5 percent from the free-throw line.
In a league where it is almost a must for bigs to be able to shoot threes, Sabonis has bucked the trend and has developed into one of the better centers in the NBA.
The 22-year-old, who played his collegiate basketball at Gonzaga University, was originally selected by the Orlando Magic in the first round (11th pick overall) of the 2016 NBA Draft but was immediately dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a trade that sent Serge Ibaka to the Magic.
Sabonis spent one season with Thunder, but during the summer of 2017, he was traded to the Pacers along with Oladipo as part of a package that landed Paul George in Oklahoma City.
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