INDIANAPOLIS — Well playas the Indiana Pacers are officially on vacation. The North American definition calls it an extended period of leisure and recreation, especially one spent away from home or in traveling. It can also be the action of leaving something one previously occupied. In other words the Pacers’ season is over as they were swept by the Boston Celtics 4-0 after losing Sunday’s Game 4 at the crib 110-106.
Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! After Victor Oladipo’s right quad at the knee injury back in January nobody even thought that they would make the playoffs. So let’s keep it in perspective. Yes, they battled and played their hearts out all season and got as high as the third spot in the East at one point only to finish in fifth place.
They should have been more competitive in this series against a Boston team that was only one spot higher than them but they weren’t. Why? Because boyz didn’t really miss the leadership of Oladipo until it got real. The regular season isn’t the playoffs playa.
They needed the fire that only Vic could give them. Sure, duns like Tyreke Evans came up big off of the bench and Bojan Bogdanovic was a consistent contributor from the time Oladipo went down. Myles Turner led the league in blocks and Thaddeus Young was the locker room leader.
However, without Victor Oladipo they were a shell of themselves in the playoffs. It just took the playoffs to expose it. Even though Boston was a fourth seed and the Pacers were the fifth seed sitting right behind them they may as well have been the No.1 playing the No.8. Why? Because Boston had a team full playoff veterans that were far more hungry than Indiana including having Kyrie who’s already won a championship. That type of leadership is critical in the playoffs.
The post-season is about veteran teams and most importantly those that have a leader that can keep everybody motivated to get through the tough periods during a series. Unfortunately, Indiana didn’t have that. That’s why during entire quarters in this series they would completely disappear and couldn’t get back on track. That’s why they pay cats like Victor Oladipo the big money. Without players like that on teams in the playoffs they’re destined to completely wet the bed. The sign says “Gone fishing.” Stop me when I start lyin’!
Playas Thesaurus:
1) Dun: noun – the person in question, dude, guy, etc. It’s whoever I’m talkin’ about and its non-gender specific.