Recap: Olynyk’s stink eye too much for Pacers

The defense was awesome tonight — back on track. Offense was OK.

Tonight’s Off. & Def. Ratings:
Cs’ OFFENSIVE RATING for this game = 106.6 (pts per 100 possessions) — ~#12 in the NBA’s season list.

—IND’s defense this full season has been giving up an average of 103.5 pts per 100 possessions (#10 in the NBA). I.e., their D has been pretty good this year — and it’s about the same over their last 15 games (excluding tonight).

— Cs’ current Off. Rating for the season is 104.0 (pts per 100 poss.), #18 in the league. <= The O was expected to improve as IT got back in the groove, and it's heading in that direction.
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Cs’ DEFENSIVE RATING for this game = 92.8 (pts allowed per 100 possessions) — much better than the league’s best season rating (GSW @ 100.6). Cs are back on track on D — the key to their playoff hopes.

— IND’s offense this full season has been scoring an average of 103.1 pts per 100 possessions — #24 in the NBA. But their OffRtg in their last 15 games is significantly better than their season avg at 106.6 pts/100p (~#12 in the league this season), indicating good improvement recently.

— Cs’ Def. Rating for the season is 105.1 (pts allowed per 100 defensive possessions), #14 in the league. BUT — In their last 15 games (including tonight’s), the Cs’ DefRtg has averaged 101.8 — which comes in at ~#2 in the NBA (for the season). (Details after the break.)
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Cs’ Net Rating for this game: +13.9 (pts/100 possessions). [Net Rating= Off. Rating minus Def. Rating = difference between our scoring rate and theirs.]
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Pace: Each team had 94 possessions — About average for the NBA and a tiny bit slow for the Cs. [NBA average pace this season = 93.9 possessions/game; Cs’ average = 95.8 — 6th highest in the league.]

Ratings comps: Basketball-reference.com. Formulas for possessions & Ratings: same as Bb-ref’s & RealGM’s, except Team-Rebounds & Team-TOs are included here.
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Cs’ Ratings for their last 15 games, including tonight’s:
— Offensive Rating: 104.7 pts/100p — ~#18 in the league (season avgs).<== As noted, this is expected to rise as Isaiah gets back up to speed, and it's doing that.

— Defensive Rating: 101.8 pts-allowed/100p — #2 in the league (season avgs). <== The Cs’ D has been spectacular lately — then fell off a cliff vs. LAC and CHA. Then came roaring right back vs. IND.
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If the Cs go into the playoffs with their D playing at around the level of the league’s 2nd (or 3rd or 5th, etc.) best D, and a reasonable offense — they could go far. A lot further than anyone expects.