Indiana Pacers: T.J. McConnell produces unexpected history

In the Indiana Pacers’ 114-111 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, T.J. McConnell put up 16 points on a perfect 8-of-8 shooting from the field, 13 assists to just two turnovers and 10 steals with zero fouls in the process. To put this statline into its proper perspective, here is the list of records it broke to snap a four-game losing streak, courtesy of StatMuse:

• Nine steals in the first half is an NBA record
• Sixth points-assists-steals triple-double in NBA history
• Sixth player to produce a triple-double on 100 percent shooting since the introduction of the 3-point line in 1980
• First player to record a triple-double with steals on 100 percent shooting since steals became official in 1973-74.

“My teammates enabled it,” McConnell said of the reason behind his historic performance during his postgame presser. “The way they were pressuring the ball, letting me get in the passing lanes, making shots, getting me the ball. So all credit to them. Seriously.”

McConnell has dished out 10-plus assists nearly 30 times in more than five seasons. This outing wasn’t even the first triple-double of his career. The career-high in steals, however, is a textbook example of what’s made McConnell last in a league that didn’t even draft him back in 2015.

T.J. McConnell turned a routine Wednesday night victory into an outing that will firmly sit in the records of Indiana Pacers basketball.

At 6’1” and roughly 190 pounds, McConnell is not a large man. To pick up a steal, he can’t overwhelm opposing ballhandlers or poke balls loose with comically long arms. Ironically enough, it’s his undersized frame that’s helped him become one of the league’s best thieves at the defensive end.

The absence of height is made up for with an endless supply of effort that has McConnell flying around the court with active hands that deflect the third-most passes per game (3.6). The low center of gravity his frame provides makes for the perfect pickpocket. Both traits were on display soon after he checked into the first quarter.

“You’re really gonna get the effort,” Pacers head coach Nate Bjorkgren said of McConnell. “He’s got that look in his eye every night. He puts a lot on himself. He wants to do very well… He makes great plays just because he’s trying so hard and I love that about him. It’s just his constant effort and no quit. He wants to do everything he can for this team and the players really love playing with him.”

That effort is what’s made McConnell’s traditionally visual-only effort show up in the stat sheet, where he’s one of the most surprising statistical leaders of the 2020-21 season. With the All-Star break just days away, he’s come to pace the league in steals at 2.0 a night despite playing only 25.2 minutes per game, by far the fewest among those in the top-10.

11 steals is the single-game record. After recording nine in the first half against Cleveland, McConnell seemed well on his way to breaking history. Unfounrtately a new entry in the record book never came. And as the Cavs built a second-half lead as high as 19, McConnell’s efforts appeared on their way to the waste bin.

Thanks largely to Malcolm Brogdon’s 16 points, the Pacers battled back in the latter 24 minutes. Though McConnell’s hands had been largely quiet at the defensive end since halftime, he put an exclamation point on the comeback, completing the triple-double with a steal with just over one minute remaining, allowing Indy to go the other way and extend its lead to four.

After averaging fewer than 20 minutes a night in his first year with the Pacers last season, McConnell has seized an opportunity born by injuries across the roster.

The production won’t always look this good. But on a night where a fifth consecutive loss seemed highly probably as the Cavs built their double-digit lead at home, the Pacers will take whatever heroics they can get to remain in the thick of a truly peculiar Eastern Conference outlook.

“I know what I can do defensively,” McConnell said immediately after the game. “I can get in the passing lanes. I can pressure people. And that gets our team going. And I just tried to do that tonight. We needed a spark and I just tried to be myself.