TJ Warren Can’t Be Stopped In The NBA Bubble Restart

We have seen some high-quality basketball out of the NBA’s restart, games have been extremely competitive and relatively high scoring making them very exciting to watch.

There have been some pretty impressive individual offensive performances in these first 3 games in Orlando, but none better than a man by the name of Tony Warren Jr. of the Indiana Pacers. TJ Warren leads the bubble in scoring with 119 points in 3 games (39.7 PPG). He’s shooting 65.3 FG% and 60.9 3P%, while also having a bubble-best +59 +/-.

Warren has undoubtedly been the best player for the Pacers in the return. He has led every game in points and helped Indiana improve to 3-0 in the bubble. Warren’s offensive surge is much needed for this team who is without their only All-Star in Domantas Sabonis. They were going to need someone to really step up and take more of an offensive responsibility and it turns out TJ is that player for them. The consistency in how Warren is scoring the ball is what stands out the most. Warren had definitely shown flashes in his ability this season prior, but he’s not just showing flashes, he’s putting on demonstrations.

Warren scored 32 Points on Tuesday night against the Orlando Magic with 21 coming in the first half while Shooting %100 from the field…yeah he didn’t miss a shot. He was 3-3 from 3 in the first half Tuesday night against the Magic, ultimately leading them to the 120-109 Victory for the Pacers.

Warren has led the Pacers to become one of the hottest teams in the Orlando bubble and now is being held to the standard of some former all-time great Pacers. After he erupted for 53 points in his career-high on Saturday against the Philadelphia 76ers, Warren now holds a Pacers scoring record. Think about how impressive this is for a moment after considering this is a franchise that had Reggie Miller, who is a top 5 three-point shooter of all time. As mentioned, Warren has tallied 119 points in those three games, tying the team record for most points in that span. This record is shared with another all-time great Pacer in Jermaine O’Neal.

At 6’8 Warren has displayed he can score the ball on all three levels. He has done a tremendous job of getting to the spots he wants on the floor to score. He’s really been able to score in whatever way he’s wanted in this three-game stretch. everything seems to be clicking offensively and it that means, even more, when you’re as versatile of a player as Warren is. Because he shoots the ball so well and has been shooting even better in Orlando, he is able to get a lot of his points simply in the flow of the Pacer offense. The rhythm he gets in just in there offense has really seemed to open up his game and you have to Give Pacer Head Coach Nate McMillian credit for this as he has put TJ Warren in situations within the offense to make high percentage plays offensively. He’s been in the pick and roll, isolated on the wing, posted on the block, and has even set an occasional pick and pop screens but defenses have not had an answer for Warren.

There is no telling how long TJ Warren will be able to keep playing at the level he is at. With the condensed bubble schedule I certainly hope we see it for at least the rest fo the Indiana Pacers season as I’m sure they do too but there is really no telling. Some of Warren’s bubble emergence has had a little “Linsanity” vibe to but that would really discredit his play from this past year which was very notable. He averaged 19.7 points per game this year before the bubble and as crazy as it is for him to scored 53 points in an NBA game its never been that he hasn’t been capable. Warren has really taken advantage of the absences of Sabonis. As long as he is out, The Pacers to keep going to him to find their offense.