With just over five minutes to play in a tied game against the Charlotte Hornets, Domantas Sabonis was once again tasked with straying from his comfort zone on defense, drawing rookie playmaker LaMelo Ball as his primary assignment. For the season, while being responsible for hedging side pick-and-rolls, defending at the line of the ball (even against non-shooting threats), and helping-and-flying as a center in a power forward’s role, Sabonis ranks second in the league in defensive player movement. To be fair, some of that exorbitant mileage is likely a product of playing big minutes, but it also speaks to the weight of the workload he’s being expected to carry on top of sourcing and facilitating offense, as he scurries around the perimeter, redirecting ball-handlers and checking perimeter-oriented threats, before boxing out and crashing the glass while Myles Turner locks down the paint and blocks every shot in sight.
How experimental should the Pacers be on defense?
