Pacers’ T.J. Warren is suddenly unstoppable in the NBA bubble

T.J. Warren is playing MVP-level basketball in the bubble.

We’ve seen several NBA players take their games to another level inside the bubble in Orlando – from skinny Carmelo Anthony to Portland sharpshooter Gary Trent Jr. – but Indiana forward T.J. Warren is suddenly playing MVP-caliber basketball and has the Pacers challenging for a top-4 seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Pacers beat the Lakers on Saturday to improve their bubble record to 4-1 – with the only loss coming against the red-hot Suns and Devin Booker – and Warren dropped 39 points on 15-of-22 shooting on the top-seeded team in the West. Warren is averaging a career-high 19.9 points per game in his first season with the Pacers, but over the last five games, Warren stat lines have been jaw-dropping.

In the bubble, Warren is averaging 34.8 points per game to lead all scorers in Orlando, and has become a dangerous outside threat. Warren is a career 36 percent shooter from three and never averaged more than 1.3 made threes per game in any previous month this season, but he’s averaging four made threes per game on 55 percent shooting in the bubble.

In his first bubble game, Warren dropped a career-high 53 points on the Sixers.

The Pacers are currently fifth in the Eastern Conference and share a record with No. 4 Miami, but will have a chance to jump into the top four in a game against the Heat on Monday.