What stuck out most at the end was that one thorn amid the bed of roses Victor Oladipo was frantically planting. That's just how it is after losses. That's just how it is when you're a star player whose confidence level makes you great but occasionally spills over the boundaries of reason.
Oladipo, taking yet another step toward becoming peak Oladipo, scored 27 points in the Pacers' 114-111 loss to Boston at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Tuesday. He scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, leading a comeback from a 19-point deficit late in the third quarter all the way to a three-point lead with less than two minutes left in the game.