Bojan Bogdanovic started this game off with a personal 10-2 run against the Lakers, setting the tone for the devastation that was to come. I don’t think LeBron James and company ever recovered from the Croatian booty-kicking delivered in those first few minutes, eventually leading to total team collapse. YES. This is what I want; a LeBron James-led team succumbing to horrible chemistry, iffy coaching, and the ever-looming threat of trades.
It remains to be seen how good the Pacers will be with Bogdanovic as their leading scorer. They managed pretty well earlier in the season with Victor Oladipo out, but that was with Bogdanovic still shooting insanely well from three. And, of course, the knowledge that Oladipo isn’t walking back through that door this year has a dampening effect on overall team morale. Can the Pacers’ collection of high-end role-players weather the storm and maybe win a playoff series? There are questions here.
My solution: run the offense through Cory Joseph. This is a very, very bad solution, and would certainly result in the Pacers losing a whole bunch of games, but I never said it was a good solution. Just that it was A solution.