Oladipo Plays As Pacers Escape Lillard and Blazers

Victor Oladipo looked healthy and ready as he helped the Indiana Pacers carve a 91-88 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/USA TODAY Sports

Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/USA TODAY Sports

Pacers fans should be thrilled by what they saw out of Oladipo, who produced 8 points and 6 boards during the team’s first scrimmage win in the bubble. After the Pacers initially announced a couple of weeks ago that the All-Star guard will not participate in the restart, Oladipo himself assured everyone that he’s still evaluating how his conditioning will go before he makes a final decision.

With Oladipo still getting into peak form, the Pacers banked on the scoring of the Holiday brothers. Justin Holiday led the team in the points column with 16 markers built on four triples, while his brother Aaron chipped in 13 points and two makes from deep.

The Pacers were able to come back from a nine-point deficit in the opening period as they closed out well on the Blazers’ shooters. Portland only made five three-pointers the whole game, norming a lowly 19% clip.

Mario Hezonja topscored for the Blazers with 15 points, while the returning Jusuf Nurkic notched a near double-double outing of 14 points and 8 rebounds. Damian Lillard only shot the ball five times, although he led the team in passing with seven assists. Gary Trent Jr. came off the bench to pour in 12 points and 3 steals, and CJ McCollum added 11 markers.

The Pacers played without frontcourt stars Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner, while the Blazers missed defensive center Hassan Whiteside.

SCORES

Pacers (91) – J. Holiday 16, A. Holiday 13, Warren 11, Brogdon 11, McDermott 10, Oladipo 8, Sampson 7, Leaf 4, Sumner 4, McConnell 3, Johnson 2, Mitrou-Long 2, Bowen II 0

Blazers (88) – Hezonja 15, Nurkic 14, Trent Jr. 12, McCollum 11, Anthony 8, Simons 6, Gabriel 6, Collins 6, Hoard 4, Lillard 4, Adams 2

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