How the bigs for the Pacers sealed the deal in Dallas

Turns out, Indiana can play big even when they're small -- especially against a smaller opponent

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

If and until the Pacers can find a back-up center with two working Achilles tendons, the Blue-and-Gold won't project to be the bigger team on most nights but that doesn't mean they have to play smaller than their opponent. For example, consider their most recent win over the Dallas Mavericks, in which they scored 76 points in the paint while making a concerted effort to out effort the opposing team's defense with a fusion of post-ups mixed with tempo. Granted, the Mavericks also weren't playing particularly big, as they were down by Derick Lively II on the second night of a back-to-back and only played Daniel Gafford seven minutes after halftime, but that's also sort of the point: despite starting the game as the smaller team in terms of aggregate number of centers, the Pacers ultimately finished the game as the bigger team with regard to the impact of what centers were available.

In what was their second-fastest game of the young season, here's how they also came to score a season-high of 18 points from the post, with one begetting the other and vice versa.

Shot Contest Seals & Runouts

With the game now calling for more forwards to play on the perimeter and above the break, they also must now defend more often above the break, which can present unique opportunities for players like Siakam and Toppin, who possess both size and speed, to pressure the opponent's transition defense and attack the rim first with seals and run-outs.

Here, after providing heavy-handed help at the nail to wall up against Luka Doncic, Siakam runs through the closeout and keeps on running, knowing that the only player available to protect the basket at the other end of the floor is most likely going to be a guard.

Of course, part of what's vital to completing that play is having a point guard who is readily willing to push the pace and throw the overhead pass, of which the Pacers have several. That said, Siakam also doesn't just run; he runs with a purpose, sprinting underneath the match-up in order to slide under for a layup or stop-and-hold for a rim seal. In that way, even when he doesn't touch the ball, his positioning with the high seal still has the potential to carve out opportunities for others in the paint and at the rim.

Made Basket Break

That same concept can also apply following a made basket, as the defense is typically scrambling and can struggle to establish weak-side help to deter the lob. Here, no one is even standing in the weak-side corner yet to help deter the lob, so Toppin's high seal, in which he puts in early work to maintain space between himself and the rim, effectively creates a catch area for T.J. McConnell to throw the ball over the top into.

In that case, the pass ends up being a bit too deep and off target, so when Doncic drops down to protect against the mismatch, Toppin kicks the ball out to Mathurin, who quickly provided a stark contrast to the way in which Jalen Brunson was effectively let off the hook while guarding Aaron Nesmith in New York. If teams are going to put their stars and/or weakest defenders on the fifth player in the starting lineup, rather than risking an interior mismatch against the bigs or having to chase over and around picks against Haliburton and Nembhard, then that player needs to actually force them to guard or pay the price for not guarding. To that point... last season, among the 63 players in the league who defended at least 500 drives, Doncic allowed the highest blowby rate, at 48.1 percent.

To be fair, Mathurin didn't exactly make the correct read when the defense stepped up to stop him and exposed the rim for Siakam, but the defense also didn't exactly stop him, as he continues to show off his ability to finish at the rim as though he's a steel marble being shot out of a pinball machine. At any rate, although the high seal didn't lead to direct points in the paint for Toppin, Toppin's efforts still nevertheless had an indirect effect on creating points in the paint for others.

Secondary Seals and Cross-matches

More than the shot contest seals or made basket break seals; however, Myles Turner and Siakam were both incredibly opportunistic at taking advantage of the moments prior to a set play when neither team is fully set. Over and over again, both of them hunted mismatches against both Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving in secondary transition without much, if any, assembly required.

That was a credit to them, because their force in recognizing the mismatch or cross-match wasn't always met with equal urgency as far as getting them the ball against the mismatch or cross-match, despite the fact that the most Dallas did to protect against those mismatches was scramming out the undersized defender with another undersized defender. Eventually, the Mavericks attempted a few possessions of 2-3 zone in the third quarter; however, after Turner knocked down a couple of threes as they were flipping back-and-forth between coverages, they quickly went back to man and man only.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the floor, the Pacers played some 2-3 zone of their own, dropping back into the coverage for eight possessions just in the fourth quarter alone. And, here's the thing: Indiana never gave up a single offensive rebound during the entire final frame, which was a significant step forward for Turner, who finished with 30 points and 11 rebounds after appearing a step slow in his first game back from injury in New Orleans.

As such, this possession arguably most epitomizes not only his impact but the overall strategy both offensively and defensively that allowed the Pacers and particularly the bigs to seal the deal against the Mavericks. For frame of reference, part of the reason why the zone was an effective change-up in the fourth quarter is because the Pacers have been playing Tyrese Haliburton at the bottom. In addition to not getting overpowered at the top, that also means he's not getting screened into action. For the quarter, he only defended one pick as the screener defender and never with Doncic as the ball-handler. Plus, the Mavericks also weren't particularly quick to hunt him in the post or with bully drives against that coverage, even though Doncic was at times matched opposite from him in that corner.

This is from the third quarter, but the same principle still applies, as does the fact that, after hanging too far back on a few possessions in the first half, Turner also came up to meet and challenge the floater from the player flashing to the high post before finishing the stop with a rebound.

Then, in transforming defense into quick offense, Siakam could once again be seen running ahead to establish early position against the cross-match before the defense could get set to help.

For that reason, even though the Pacers were down by two bigs to start the game, they consistently played big even when they were small and especially against a smaller opponent, using their pace and tempo to enhance their post play, just as their post play also enhanced their pace and tempo. To be fair, not every opponent will be as lethargic as the Mavericks were in transition or will choose to play as small as the Mavericks; however, after coming up empty against smaller and undermanned opponents in New Orleans and against Philadelphia, the steps they took to apply pressure in transition by attacking the rim first with rim seals and run-outs in combination with what appeared to be increased willingness from Haliburton to seek friction at one end of the floor with the zone shielding him from friction at the other, was at least a big step, especially from the available bigs, in the right direction.