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Beyond Oladipo, the Pacers' capacity for response appears limited. We see this whenever opponents bring two defenders to the ball against Oladipo in the pick-and-roll. This is a problem Indiana runs into often, and one they'll only see more of in the playoffs. The Pacers run more pick-and-roll-derived offense than all but three other teams, per Synergy Sports. The rest of the league knows this—and, more specifically, knows how little dynamism Oladipo has to work with. That he often decides to drive straight at the double team or split the defenders is less a snapshot of Oladipo's decision-making than of his circumstances.

Those limitations give the Pacers' problem-solving efforts a certain clumsiness. On many nights, their most reliable solution is to simply lean more on Oladipo, the most capable shot creator on the roster by far. Anything else can get Indiana too far out of its base offense to do anything comfortably, which is exactly the defense's intention. Trapping the pick-and-roll is a fairly basic strategy, but the Pacers have little way around it. Their offense needs the ball in Oladipo's hands in order to function, and yet asking him to grind out possessions against that kind of pressure both warps the risk-reward balance of his playmaking and wears him down over the course of a game and a series.

Because of their limited options, whatever playoff counters the Pacers come up with will surely contribute to Oladipo's diminishing returns. Already we've seen signs of wear from the way Indiana's lead guard has scaled up his offense. Oladipo is already at his least efficient in fourth quarters. Since the All-Star Break, his true shooting has buckled from 58.9% to 49.5%. These are understandable fades for a player using more possessions than ever before, but what happens when the Pacers need him to play even more minutes in the playoffs? How might he hold up when opponents are keyed in against him for every possession?

Two minutes left in a tie game and a guard brings the ball up - the center sets a pick at the top of the court - they get the switch and the guard sprints to the rim as he tries to score.

Does this sound familiar?

It should since that’s the play Pacers head coach Nate McMillan has drawn up for almost every one of Indiana’s close games this season. He tries everything he can to get a slow center or forward switched on to Victor Oladipo and then trusts him to find a way to get a basket.