Indiana Pacers hope roster changes can break 48-win ceiling

Storyline 1: Nate McMillan, an old dog learning new tricks

The first two Pacers preseason games in India showed promise not just because the games were a pair of wins over the Sacramento Kings but because of the way the Pacers played basketball.

Myles Turner was out on the perimeter offensively spotting up for open looks, seemingly answering the question of how he and Sabonis could share the floor without clogging the low block and ruining team spacing.

Indiana’s overall 3-point attempt rate was just 29.0 percent in the first game and 30.9 percent in the second game, good for 29.9 percent overall, barely better than the team’s 29.2 percent 3PAR last season (which was second-lowest in the league ahead of only the San Antonio Spurs.)

But they made those shots, 37.0 percent in the first game and 51.7 percent in the second one.

We’re seeing flashes of coach Nate McMillan learning how to coach the modern game as he allows Turner to venture outside, but that specter of Scott-Hollins Syndrome still remains.

This is a crossroads year for McMillan. Like Byron Scott and Lionel Hollins, his aversion to modern NBA offense may be the death of his career if it once again leads to Indiana counting by two while their opponents count by three on the scoreboard. Maybe if he’s on the hot seat for his job, he might actually learn to stop letting his players settle for long twos.

Indiana shot 15.2 percent of their shots from between 16 feet and the arc last season, second-highest in the league behind the Spurs (whose two best players, LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan, can’t shoot for beans from long range.) McMillan has to break that habit for the team to succeed and for him to justify his job.