Pacers playoff hopes put on hold...

Report: Victor Oladipo suffered a ruptured quad tendon last night against the Raptors. He will undergo surgery which will sideline him for the remainder of the season. 

What we know.

The newest face of the Pacers is out for the season. The city of Indiana took a deep breath when they saw their all-star guard go down holding his right knee. Shortly after that the Pacers’ trainers took Oladipo off on a stretcher. Oladipo will most probably be replaced by point guard Tyreke Evans and Darren Collison. The Pacers will play it by the year at the point/shooting guard position to make up for the loss of Oladipo in the starting lineup. Regardless of who will be playing at the point/shooting guard in place of Oladipo, both Evans and Collison are primed to have much more playing time. In fact, Tyreke Evans recorded his 5th most minutes of playing time this season last night against the Raptors. Collison on the other hand recorded his 8th most minutes this season for the Pacers last night. Expect both of them to have a lot more playing time.

 Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Impact.

Obviously there really is no upside for the Pacers after the loss of Oladipo. Lucky for them, they have just a tad bit of leisure to “see what works”. They currently sit at the 3rd seed in the East behind the Bucks and Raptors. The Pacers will definitely have to find a way to continue playing at a high level despite the loss of Oladipo. This new gameplay without Oladipo could shift the attention to the big men. I’d expect Myles Turner to continue being consistent with the rebounds, however, getting him involved more on the offensive side of the ball could benefit the Pacers.

Via ipacers.com

On top of that, the Pacers also have a respectable depth chart at the forward position with Sabonis, Bogdanovic, Young, and McDermott. Although Turner is listed as a power forward, he will continue playing a role more so as a center. Regardless, all of them are shooting at least 47.5% from the field. McDermott holds the lowest FG% of the 5 with 47.5% as Sabonis is shooting a career-high 61.9% from the field. In terms of playoff seeding, I would still expect the Pacers to stay in the hunt and nab anywhere from the 6th-8th seed in the Eastern Conference.