For the second game in a row, the Pacers suffered a prolonged scoring drought that lasted for almost an entire quarter. The difference here is that the quarter happened to be the fourth quarter, so it’s easier to point to it and say “that’s the reason the Pacers lost right there”. That’s what I’m doing, and I didn’t even have to watch the game to see that I’m right. The box-score is telling me everything I need to know, and part of that box-score is that Bojan Bogdanovic scored six of his team’s twelve points in the fourth quarter.
It’s apparent to me that Bogdanovic is attempting to step up in the absence of Victor Oladipo and in the absence of anybody on his roster being a major scoring threat. Bogdanovic, as good as he is, is not quite at “Oladipo” level as a scorer. But that can and should change.
Aren’t Croats well-versed in the Old Ways? Couldn’t Bogdanovic just do some prayer-ritual thing to invite the disembodied spirit of Oladipo to enter into his body and combine with his own soul to form Bogdanodipo? I’m sure that sort of witchery was practiced in Croatia at some point in their history, so there’s no reson why they can’t do it now. If Oladipo’s soul really did commingle with Bogdanovic’s, the resulting basketball player would be so great that it would spontaneously cause Boston fans to boo their own team. The Celtics would probably lose in five games even though two games have already been wins for the Celtics.
There’s gotta be some instructions online on how to do traditional Croatian soul-merging. Bojan could probably do it himself as long as he had enough candles, crosses, and pilfered sacred relics. Maybe he can beseech the Old Gods to restore his hair while he’s at it.