A week ago last Monday, the short-handed Pacers, down by both Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis, lost to the Spurs, 109-94, on the second night of a back-to-back while shooting a season-low 32 percent from the field, including 40 percent inside the paint. Concluding a stretch in which the team had played six games in nine nights, fatigue likely played a role in the struggle to finish around the basket, as did the necessity of rolling out unfamiliar lineup combinations and adjusting to changes in coverage and further injuries, but what happened just before several of those misses also can’t be ignored as a factor among many — at least as it pertains to the long-term development of second-year big man, Goga Bitadze.
On Goga Bitadze and the impact of non-screens
