Should the Pacers buddy up to protect Buddy Hield? (Patreon)

The Suns searched for Hield under every rock and cactus, which likely also would've been the case if Haliburton had been available. What should the Pacers do to avoid getting, figuratively and literally, needled? 

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper  

With less than two and a half minutes to play in what was a tied game following free throws from Andrew Nembhard, the Phoenix Suns started searching for Buddy Hield under every rock and tree -- or, perhaps more fittingly, under every rock and cactus. After all, without any centers on the floor for either team, the paint effectively took on the appearance of a vast desert, as Devin Booker and Bradley Beal proceeded to take turns calling for screens from Hield's defender, scorching the Pacers on four-straight possessions while, quite literally, finishing the game on a 10-3 run.

Needless to say, it was a very, ahem, prickly situation for the Pacers. To understand why, look at the surrounding spacing. When Grayson Allen screens for the ball, not only is Beal getting the favorable switch against Hield, he also has Kevin Durant adjacent to him for the potential advance pass. Typically, when teams double following a switch, in what's commonly referred to as "switch-to-blitz" coverage, they will do so with the top defender on the two-player side, which is where Durant is positioned. That way, on the pass out, they don't give up an odd-man advantage as the remaining players rotate on the perimeter. 

In essence, when Beal gets the switch against Hield, Nesmith would double from Durant, with Nembhard bumping up from the corner and Toppin sprinting across the lane. The only problem is, that's Kevin Durant, who scored 40 points on 72 percent shooting in this game. Do the Pacers really want to leave that guy open, even if only momentarily? Granted, Nesmith could try to come out at an angle to hard deny that pass, but the risk of Durant knifing from the wing to the basket would still be there, which means Nembhard would likely get sucked in on the cut, leaving Booker open in the corner. Again, this is prickly, which explains why Hield was switching without the blitz. That said, it doesn't exactly why Hield wasn't being more aggressive in shading Beal to his left -- not for the purpose of "weaking" Beal, but rather for the sake of funneling him into help from Pascal Siakam. If the Pacers have to give up something, wouldn't it be preferable to chance the length from Siakam, stunting at the ball and recovering to Allen, as opposed to... well... this?

On the next possession, the same outcome basically played out again on repeat. Only this time, with Allen and Gordon exchanging places to occupy and reposition the nail help. Still, Beal manages to get all the way to the rim with his right, without being shaded toward Toppin.

For good reason, Nesmith isn't going to take extra steps away from Durant in that situation. Remember, Jarace Walker braved that in the first half, and he ended up getting both scalded and (for lack of better word) scolded, as he immediately came out following this mistake. 

To counter, the Pacers had Hield show on the next possession, so as not to give up the favorable switch. Before this game, however, Hield had only shown on a total of nine picks when defending the screener. As such, he didn't exactly have a lot of practice recovering to his assignment, which, uh, showed. Here, after attempting to snap his head and deflect the pass with his inside arm, he ends up taking an imperfect angle. With the ball moving toward Durant yet again, Nesmith is back to being caught between the rock and the prickly place.

In that instance, though, it might've been worth it to try the tactic they've been implementing with Tyrese Haliburton, in which he shows to avoid giving up the mismatch and then instead of recovering to his man, he peels off to the perimeter. 

Of course, that could be dangerous if Nesmith jump-switches too early and Beal is able to move the ball to Durant before Hield can peel. Either way, the Suns went on to score for the fourth time in a row, with Hield chasing Allen on the run. Notably, with Durant on the single-side of the floor, Siakam and Toppin are more aggressive with their jabs at the ball, but Hield is still the player left protecting the rim when Beal gets downhill out of the swapped closeouts. 

On the one hand, there's only so many places Hield can hide. On the other hand, however, there were arguably some missed opportunities to at least delay the inevitable. Granted, this group of players has never closed out a game together, but when Allen was approaching from the opposite side of the floor from Durant, this would've been a prime opportunity for Siakam to switch on the approach. Even if the Suns responded by screening with Beal, they would've been doing so later in the shot-clock.

To be fair, another obvious way to hide Hield would've been to just stop playing him, but he made two bigs threes in the fourth quarter, including the shot that put the Pacers ahead, 105-103, with 3:20 to play. For point of reference, when Nembhard, Hield, Nesmith, and Siakam entered for Mathurin, Walker, Sheppard, and Smith, Indiana was trailing by seven. On a night when the Pacers were without Haliburton and still getting to know each other with Siakam, they gave themselves a chance to win with the lineup that had given them the lead, they just weren't able to hold onto said lead. As it pertains to only this game, maybe they could've chosen Sheppard over Hield. By comparison, Sheppard has quicker feet and is more likely to stay in front, but he's unique from the rest of the players on the roster in that he has a tendency to contest shots with both hands, which can make it harder for him to jump and launch himself forward.

As for Walker, who popped offensively during the minutes without either Nembhard or McConnell on the floor, he's still figuring things out on defense and had his own struggles, whether taking chances with his help or reaching at times on the perimeter. 

McConnell and Mathurin also could've been options, but the former seemed gassed from filling in for Haliburton, and the two of them shot a combined 3-of-16 from the field. 

Whatever the case, even if one of those players had come in for Hield, that player isn't going to sub in for Haliburton, who is still going to have to find a way to avoid getting needled in the same manner. Better offense certainly would've mitigated the defense, as will more time to jell and recover from a lengthy road trip; however, for the outcome of that game and the future, the Pacers may need to be more willing to buddy up, providing additional support to protect those mismatches, just as they also, whether in reference to funneling the ball toward the help or taking better angles, needed Buddy, who had shot them back into the game, to up his own execution.