INDIANAPOLIS — It was quiet enough in the arena that fans could hear the All-Star guard scream in pain. Indiana guard Victor Oladipo clutched at his knee and grimaced. And when minds could return to basketball, there was certainly doubt about what would happen next, and who the Pacers would turn to now.
Bojan Bogdanovic, dressed in his yellow warmups on and a towel draped over his shoulders, stood next to his injured teammate. He hurt for Oladipo, but he was quietly confident his team’s season wouldn’t be lost.
Bogdanovic had carried teams before. Oladipo’s unfortunate injury forced the Croatian forward, a reserved personality off the court and a fiery competitor on it, to take on a bigger role, to show he was more than a spot-up shooter.