The NBA regular season has drawn to a close after originally beginning on Oct. 22, 2019, four months after it was slated to end prior to the hiatus. The Indiana Pacers entered the bubble with a chip on their shoulder after having lost All-Star Domantas Sabonis and key rotation player, Jeremy Lamb, due to season-ending injuries.
It was highly expected league-wide that the Pacers would drop to the sixth seed, as the third through sixth seeds were all close to one another in the standings at the time of restart. Instead, the Pacers once again defied expectations and scorched their way to the fourth seed.
One major factor for the team’s success has been head coach and former NC State guard Nate McMillan’s ability to be able to do more with less. Since his hiring, McMillan has notched 183 regular season wins, good for fourth all-time for Pacers coaches, trailing only Larry Brown, Frank Vogel and Bobby Leonard. His 57% win percentage over this time also ranks fourth all-time for Pacers coaches.
In his first season as head coach, McMillan had to deal with rumors surrounding all-star Paul George’s trade request and still managed to lead the team to the seventh seed. Then, the team flipped George in the offseason for Victor Oladipo and Sabonis. The team was expected to miss the playoffs, but McMillan and the Pacers turned both of those players into stars and nearly put up a 50-win season.
This season and last, McMillan has been mostly without Oladipo due to injury, and he still helped churn out great seasons. Always defying expectations, McMillan’s efforts were rewarded with a one-year contract extension in yet another season that will be sure to challenge the team and the front office, as the NBA looks to have its most competitive season to date in store.
One massive reason for the Pacers achieving “home-court advantage” in the bubble was the emergence of former NC State forward T.J. Warren, who dropped 53 points in his first game in the bubble. Warren then went on to average 39.7 points across the first three games with incredible efficiency.
In the bubble, Warren shot 58% from the floor, 52% from deep and averaged 31 points, 6.3 rebounds and one block per game, all significant jumps from his regular season numbers. Warren’s 174 points scored in his first five bubble games are tied for the fifth-most in Pacers history over a five-game span.
For his efforts, Warren was named to the Kia All-Seeding Games First Team, alongside established NBA stars James Harden, Devin Booker, Damian Lillard and Luka Doncic. The Second Team was also headlined by numerous stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard.
The mutually beneficial relationship between former NC State players McMillan and Warren will be especially important heading into the playoffs, where the duo will face the Miami Heat in the opening round. If Warren and McMillan can keep the train rolling, this is just the beginning of the accomplishments the pair will achieve.
