In the regular season, T.J. McConnell and Obi Toppin were an incredibly productive duo for the Indiana Pacers off the bench but in the series against the Bucks it wasn’t translating to the same level of positive impact. All of that changed in game six as the Pacers clinched their first playoff series win in 10 years.
“If I can be honest, I think our bench took a couple steps back competitive-wise and productivity-wise. I think tonight, all of us, just had a mentality of ‘we’re going to go out there and go to another level competitively,’ and that’s kind of the bench I saw all season,” McConnell said of the second unit turning things around. “I’m happy for every guy that has come off the bench this season.”
After the All-Star break, the Pacers bench dominated with the team having a net rating of 13.4 in the minutes that both McConnell and Toppin shared the floor over those 26 games. Consistently the bench was responsible for giving the team a boost and making up for a slow start and they seemed to always deliver primarily behind the outstanding play of these two.
In the playoffs, however, the Pacers were hemorrhaging points as the pairing had a net rating of -15 in the first five games of the series and both players had the worst individual net ratings of any players that had been in the rotation in every game. But in game six, they were the two most important players in the game once again providing a lift when the Pacers needed them most with McConnell leading the team in plus/minus at +22 with 20 points and 9 assists and Toppin filling in often for Myles Turner as he dealt with foul trouble, led the Pacers in scoring with 21 points. Both players had their best career post-season games by a wide margin.
“I thought everybody just played the right way. I thought Obi came in and played with unbelievable energy,” said Tyrese Haliburton after the win. “T.J.’s energy was amazing…the bench’s energy was flowing the whole game honestly. At the end of the day, the two games we lost in this series, they dictated the pace and in the games we won we dictated it. We just knew we were going to come out, be aggressive.”
Both McConnell and Toppin are instrumental in pushing the pace and continuing to up the tempo when the second unit comes into the game.
“He sets the tempo for our team and was so crucial to us winning tonight,” McConnell said of Toppin. “… In the open floor, there’s not many guys in the NBA that can challenge him at the rim. When he’s running the way he does, he takes our group to another level. He’s a special player, his ability to shoot the ball, get out and run and create mismatches in transition and get up and catch lobs.”
Toppin said that McConnell tells him those things before every game and responded at the podium in the moment, “You’re special too, bro. Appreciate you.”
The duo at the podium were like the buddy cop partners at the end of a movie free to joke around after surviving all the trials and tribulations that their case put them through—or the outtakes at end of a Rush Hour.
McConnell is indeed special as Toppin stated—especially in game six. His 20 points were a playoff career high as he made 7 of 9 attempts from the floor in just 23 minutes. After not getting a steal in the first five games, McConnell had four including two of his patented steals off of an in-bounds pass in the backcourt.
“Do what I’ve done my whole career,” McConnell said of his steals. “Not having a steal this entire series is unlike me. Trying to make guys as uncomfortable as possible and go and make plays on the defensive end so we can run in transition.”
McConnell went supernova to end the third quarter and start the fourth scoring 12 points in about three and a half minutes. He ended the 3rd quarter by accepting the dare from Khris Middleton to shoot the wide open 3-pointer from the top of the key, started the fourth quarter with his second backcourt steal and then hit another 3-pointer after the Pacers got an offensive rebound. He spun around Damian Lillard for a layup that sat on the rim before falling in, pivoted around Bobby Portis for his trademark short-middy fadeaway. Gainbridge Fieldhouse was rocking for the fan favorite.
“He’s an undersized guy that makes a huge difference. He doesn’t play at his height,” Myles Turner explained one of the many reasons fans love the backup point guard. “I know there’s a lot of kids back home that can watch a guy like TJ play and see hope in that, not everyone is going to be 6’11” or 7-feet tall … You work on all those little intangible things in your game. I’m glad that we’ve been on this journey together as long as we have.”
In general, McConnell has struggled in the playoffs over his NBA career. He was benched in the bubble in favor of Aaron Holiday, he only had a pair of double-figure scoring games prior to game six. His previous high came in a 2018 game with the Sixers were he played 39 minutes and prevented a sweep with 19 points. At times in this series it felt like McConnell was trying to outwork everyone else but it was leading to him being too amped and a little out of control. In game five, he had his worst game while scoring just six points on 3 of 10 shooting, looking generally out of sorts all night.
“McConnell last game had a rough game,” Carlisle said. “His bounce back today was absolutely phenomenal. I would say in this game he was the major difference-maker with defensive intensity full-court, he knocked in two or three threes, he got in some difficult hoops around the basket. The crowd was going crazy. That period late third, early fourth quarter, it was something else.”
Haliburton had a different theory about what helped McConnell find his game again to clinch the series: having his wife at the game.
“I knew he was going to respond because his wife Val was here. I always tell him that he plays better when she’s at the games,” Haliburton said of his teammate. “He was a little down after game five, he didn’t perform how he wanted to. I just told him we’re going to go home, Val’s going to be at the game, and you’re going to be better. And it happened. Shoutout, Val.”
His teammates love to give him playful jabs and his reaction to being called old by Toppin at the podium was priceless.
His benchmate Toppin had scored in double figures in each of the prior three games but the Pacers had been outscored in his minutes in each. With Turner being forced to the bench by foul trouble, the Pacers went to a small lineup pairing Pascal Siakam with Toppin. Toppin came through in the game that they needed him in the most playing nearly the entire third quarter after Turner picked up a fourth foul.
Toppin got out in transition repeatedly being a big reason why the Pacers scored 22 points on just 12 Bucks turnovers, taking advantage of every opportunity he had to get out into the open floor. He hit every one of his 2-point attempts (5 for 5) and went 3 for 10 from deep. He contributed on the glass with 8 rebounds, had two assists including a pass with his left off of a live dribble that zipped over Brook Lopez to find a somewhat surprised Aaron Nesmith for a layup.
Now he gets a chance to face his former team in the second round. While Toppin said he’ll approach it the same as he would any opponent, you know there has to be a little extra juice for the power forward to show what he can do on this stage with his new team.
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