When Victor Oladipo returned earlier this week it was a happy return but it wasn’t essential --surprisingly -- when you consider the Pacers’ success without him.
Granted, Indiana was going to need him to beat the best teams in the East. But they had done enough in his absence to not just remain afloat, but actually increase their position in the battle for a top three seed in the conference.
It wasn’t until Oladipo’s performance against the Knicks that he finally broke 20 points post-return. But even with the 20-point performance he has yet to take more than 16 shots in a game.