The Indiana Pacers got swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs, as the absence of star shooting guard Victor Oladipo was too much for the Pacers to overcome.
In the four-game sweep, the Pacers were within striking distance of the Celtics in every fourth quarter. Heck, Indiana actually had a comfortable lead in Game 2 before Celtics superstar Kyrie Irving took the game over.
Without Oladipo, the Pacers didn't have anyone who could do what Irving did for the Celtics: Put the team on their back and will the club to victory.
“No. 4,” Pacers forward Thaddeus Young said, referring to Oladipo, via Scott Agness of The Athletic. “That breaks a lot of things up for us. He’s our guy that we can throw the ball to when we get in trouble, and he’s our guy that we throw the ball to in the fourth. If he’s out there playing, some of these games might be different. I think that’s our (next) step.”
Added guard Darren Collison:
“You look at the final five minutes, they always had a closer,” Collison said. “It was Kyrie the first couple of games, Gordon Hayward has been closing games pretty much his whole career in Utah, so that wasn’t new to him. Jayson Tatum is just as talented, too, and they got (coach) Brad (Stevens).
“They had the players, and we definitely missed Vic this series. … You can look at it in so many different ways, but if you don’t have an impact player like Vic, it changes everything.”
Teams aren't going to go far in the playoffs without a closer and the Pacers found that out the hard way.
Indiana still had a productive season, though. Hopefully, Oladipo stays healthy in 2019-20.
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