Nate Taylor

nate.taylor@indystar.com

PORTLAND, Ore. – Monta Ellis is trying to change. Not completely, yet in a manner that will allow him to be most effective for the remodeled Indiana Pacers.

By his nature, Ellis’ style of play appears to be perfect for these up-tempo Pacers. He wants to attack the basket in transition or the half court. He loves to produce points and assists in the pick-and-roll. He wants to force steals for fast-break opportunities.

Coach Nate McMillan will still accept such production and plays from Ellis. McMillan, though, wants and expects Ellis to do more by doing less with the ball.

In his 12th season, Ellis is averaging just 10.6 points, the lowest of his career since his rookie year. He is attempting just 9.4 shots per game, also his lowest since his rookie year. The most telling statistic for Ellis through the Pacers’ first 18 games this season, however, is his usage percentage. The Pacers have used Ellis in their offensive plays – though an estimate – just 17 percent of the time, according to NBA.com. The percentage is the lowest in Ellis’ career.

“I don’t need to take that many shots in a game,” he said Sunday. “I’m just playing the game the right way. My shots will come when they come. If they don’t, then I’ll do other things.”

Yet Ellis is shooting a higher overall percentage (.447) and from behind the arc (.326), and has a higher positive net rating (2.8 points per 100 possessions) than last season, his first with the Pacers. And in the Pacers nine wins this season, Ellis’ usage percentage is 15 percent.

Stuckey providing defense, improving offense off the bench for Pacers

But perhaps more than ever, Ellis is not concerning himself with his individual statistics.

“I’ve been around,” said the 31-year-old Ellis. “Sometimes you make (shots), sometimes you don’t. You’ve still got to play the game the right way. That means rebounds, getting stops and do whatever you need to do to be in your gaps. Those things don’t show on the stat sheet, but it helps teams win. When you have a night like I had (Sunday) without shooting the ball, you’ve got to do something else.”

Ellis said those words after the Pacers’ 91-70 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Without star Paul George, Ellis knew he needed to take more shots. But he made just two of his 12 attempts, his poorest shooting game of the season. A younger, less mature Ellis might have let those 10 misses have a negative impact on the rest of his performance. Against the Clippers, Ellis still held J.J. Redick to five points on 1-of-7 shooting. He also collected six rebounds, helped maintain the Pacers’ ball movement and only committed one turnover in 35 minutes.

It was that performance, minus the shooting, that the Pacers now expect from Ellis.

“I think mostly we’re trying to get him to play a couple more years in this league,” George said last week. “We’ve been asking a lot out of Monta and working him hard. I think Nate is aware of that and wants that role to be a little easier for him, to where he doesn’t have to do so much to create and put his body out there to get plays going. We’re trying to save him in that aspect.”

Ellis realized his approach on the court would need to change after last season, when former coach Frank Vogel often used him as the team’s primary ball handler. Larry Bird, the team’s president, acquired Jeff Teague in the offseason via a trade to be the team’s point guard. Ellis, without any issues, moved to be the team’s undersized starting shooting guard.

When McMillan was promoted in May to head coach, he talked to Ellis about evolving. Ellis, McMillan said, had to recondition his thinking and reacting on the court. Instead of constantly driving to the basket, Ellis has to move and cut to the basket without the ball. Instead of shooting midrange jumpers almost exclusively, roam behind the 3-point line and shoot those shots when open.

“It’s an adjustment to learn how to play without the ball,” McMillan said last week. “You just think about our lineup and our guys and you think about Monta. He’s played with the ball all of his life. You put all of these guys together and sacrifice comes into place and you have to learn and reinvent your game.”

Reinvention, especially for a player as old as Ellis, can be difficult. Ellis, despite his alpha characteristics, has been willing to defer more to Teague to allow his teammates to probe more for points and assists.

“He’s always been a creator, a scorer, a heavy minutes guy,” said Myles Turner. “He doesn’t have to do that with this team. He’s doing a better job, especially this season, of just doing it in other ways to impact the game.”

As a veteran transitioning to a lesser scoring role, Ellis, several Pacers said last week, has helped build the team’s chemistry.

Part of how he has done that is by not changing vociferous personality. He is not afraid to use his voice, whether in practice or a game. When the Pacers struggled to begin the season, Ellis was the loudest Pacer on the court to voice his displeasure about the team’s performance.

“You’ve got some veteran guys that are new to the team that really don’t feel, like, obligated to state their opinion or don’t feel comfortable doing it,” Ellis said. “I really don’t. I love this game, man. I come in here and I practice hard, I play hurt, I practice hurt. I think I have the right to state my opinion when I need to when I give my body up for that.”

With these Pacers, Ellis said he has focused more on teaching. He felt, after a few weeks, that some his teammates needed more of his wisdom to help them through a new offensive philosophy. Ellis has been the hardest on the younger Pacers, in particular Glenn Robinson III and Turner.

“Yeah, he can be tough on me,” Turner said of Ellis. “It’s because he wants to see us get better. Yeah, he’s tough at times.”

George called Ellis a warrior last week for how competitive his older his teammate is. George said Ellis’ role this season is one that competes against his reputation around the league as an aggressive scorer.

Ellis, though, knows what playing the game the right way means for him. He has and plans on continuing to share the ball to make the Pacers successful.

“I’ll do whatever I can to help us win,” Ellis said. “(McMillan) understands that. I got that feel from him. He told me that from day one, and I’m just trying to do my part.”

Call IndyStar reporter Nate Taylor at (317) 444-6484. Follow him on Twitter: @ByNateTaylor.

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Pacers at Trail Blazers, 10 p.m. Wednesday, Fox Sports Indiana, NBATV

Insider: Pacers’ tenacity overpowers Clippers ahead of Western trip

INDIANA at PORTLAND

Tipoff: 10 p.m. today, Moda Center

TV: Fox Sports Indiana, NBATV

Radio: WFNI-AM (1070), -FM (93.5).

Pacers (9-9)

Projected starters

Pos;Player;PPG;Key stat

PG; Jeff Teague; 14.6 ppg; 6.8 apg

SG; Monta Ellis; 10.6 ppg; 4.2 apg

SF; Glenn Robinson III; 6.5 ppg; 3.1 rpg

PF; Thaddeus Young; 12.1 ppg; 6.1 rpg

C; Myles Turner; 14.7 ppg; 7.6 rpg

6th; Al Jefferson; 7.0 ppg; 4.4 rpg

Trail Blazers (9-10)

Projected starters

Pos;Player;PPG;Key stat

PG; Damian Lillard; 28.2 ppg; 5.3 apg

SG; C.J. McCollum; 22.3 ppg; 3.6 apg

SF; Ed Davis; 3.9 ppg; 4.9 rpg

PF; Maurice Harkless; 12.4 ppg; 5.5 rpg

C; Mason Plumlee; 9.7 ppg; 7.0 rpg

6th; Meyers Leonard; 5.9 ppg; 3.4 rpg

Storylines

INJURY UPDATE: The Pacers held their practice Tuesday in Portland at the Moda Center. C.J. Miles was a limited participant in the practice for the first time since he sustained his sore left knee injury Nov. 18. Miles went through contact drills, but he is still listed as out for Wednesday’s game along with Paul George (left ankle) and Kevin Serahin (left knee). George and Seraphin did not practice Tuesday.

“It was his first day running, so he still has ways to go,” coach Nate McMillan said of Miles. “He still needs a few more practices (before playing) to build his conditioning. We know that he needs more time after being off for two weeks.”

SHARING THE POINTS: The Pacers are one of four teams in the NBA that have had seven different leading scorers in a game this season. The other three teams in the league are the Philadelphia 76ers, the Denver Nuggets and the Dallas Mavericks.

A TELLING QUOTE: “Paul could play if he wanted to, and he wants to, but it just don’t make sense. We just got to let them know not to put so much pressure on themselves trying to come back. We’re out there and everybody stepped up. And not only Paul, but C.J. and Kevin’s out. We just had to step in and step up and do our jobs so those guys could take their time and get back healthy.” – Al Jefferson on what the healthy Pacers did in Sunday’s win over the Los Angeles Clippers without three key players.

PREDICTION: The Trail Blazers have lost six of their last eight games and have struggled on defense. If the Pacers play with the same intensity and defensive effort they showed in their last two games, they should start their five-game road trip with a victory. Pacers 111, Trail Blazers 107.

– Nate Taylor