Indiana Pacers: 3 takeaways from Game 3 vs. Cavaliers

3. Bojan Bogdanovic lights it up

Other than a 44-point game in 2016, which has an asterisk next to it because it came against the peak-Process, 10-win Philadelphia 76ers, Bojan Bogdanovic never had 30 points in a game. He got to 29 five times in his career, but never had a total in the scoring column that started with a “3.”

He picked a good time to break the trend on Friday night.

Bogey was easily the best player on the floor for the Pacers, not only totaling 30 points on 11-for-15 shooting, including an unconscious 7-of-9 from deep, but also giving Indiana a +18 in the 36 minutes he played.

None of his seven 3 were bigger than his last, a dagger to put the Pacers up by five that he shot from somewhere just outside Shelbyville. The bomb came just one possession after his driving layup ended LeBron James‘ personal 7-0 run that tied the game and made the entire state of Indiana clench its cheeks.

Those baskets were part of a four-minute stretch where Bogey scored all 12 Indiana points and kept them in a game James didn’t seem interested in losing.

Speaking of LeBron, Bogdanovic at the very least made life annoying for him throughout the evening, to the point that the almighty James looked gassed at moments in the fourth quarter.

On a night where no other Pacers had a particularly strong game, the Bogey man give them just enough to pull it out.