2019 NBA Playoffs: Boston Celtics vs. Indiana Pacers preview

Key Question No. 2: Where will Indiana get its offense from?

Come playoff time, every team’s defense steps up in a big way, with detailed scouting reports and laser-like focus on every single possession. For the offense, execution might not always be good enough. Sometimes, you simply need a star capable of bailing you out on any given play.

Even prior to Oladipo’s devastating leg injury, the Pacers were a middle-of-the-pack offensive team, ranking 14th in offensive rating while scoring the ninth-fewest points per game in the league.

Since then, they’ve been forced to make up the 18.8 points per game he brought to the table by finding enough offensive output elsewhere on the roster, enough to at least remain competitive through most games.

Bojan Bogdanovic is averaging a career-high 18.0 points per game. Thaddeus Young and Darren Collision are providing a combined 23.8 points per game. It’s clear, though, that without Oladipo, Indiana lacks even a relatively proven go-to scoring option, which will certainly come to hamper them in the playoffs — especially down the stretch, where they rank 29th in crunch-time scoring.

The Celtics have Kyrie Irving to bail them out in a moment’s notice. Indiana isn’t blessed with such a player, and it may come to feel that loss when matched up against a Boston squad that ranks among the best in the league defensively.