INDIANAPOLIS – What makes the Indiana Pacers unique is that in a league that values offense, they continue to excel at defense.

In Monday's film session, the day after a 105-89 rout of the Washington Wizards, Pacers coach Nate McMillan couldn't praise his star, Victor Oladipo, enough.

He did something midway through the third quarter that defined the outcome. It wasn't a 3. It wasn't a blocked shot or a steal. The grunt work that is at the core of good defense hardly ever reveals itself in a boxscore.

It was a sacrifice.

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After Myles Turner's pass was deflected by Bradley Beal and led to a transition opportunity for the Wizards, Oladipo rushed back to prevent a layup. Turner stayed with Trevor Ariza, who got the pass from Beal, to force the ball out of the lane. He threw it to a trailing Jeff Green. All of Green's 6-9 and 235 pounds came downhill at full speed.

That's when Oladipo, who was pinned under the rim by Beal to clear the runway for Green's takeoff, extricated himself to get on top of the restricted circle and accept the contact. Green still completed a thunderous dunk as he extended but it was negated by the charging call.

"Those are big plays. Those are momentum-shifters. I feel like right there, if he would've dunked that, they would've gotten some momentum," Oladipo said. "No telling what would happen after that. If I can get there, I'm going to take it. Over the years I've learned how to take a charge and not get hurt. Why not?"

Darren Collison went back the other way for the Pacers to drain a 3 to push the lead to 68-56 as his team would dominate and go up by as much as 23. The sequence turned the tide.

Oladipo, who has a scar above his left eye from taking a charge earlier in his career, knows how to ride with the collision. He turns his head to protect his face. He covers up all valuable areas to minimize the injury risk.

"He's played that way since joining us. He's always given up his body defensively. He'll take a charge. That's just how he plays," McMillan said of Oladipo. "That was a big-time play. That's something that we as a team saw this morning."

Even in the Pacers losses this month where they're 9-3, they've held those opponents to 100.3 points.

Their defensive rating per 100 possessions entering Christmas Day is 101.9, No. 1 in the NBA.

In December, the Pacers have surpassed themselves for the season. They're allowing 98.2, also a league best.

They've held 16 opponents to 100 points or less and are 12-4 in those games. That includes losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors in which the league determined incorrect no-calls negated a victory in the former and a chance to tie the score in regulation in the latter.

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While Oladipo was on the All-Defensive team last season, Thaddeus Young remains their most versatile 1-on-1 defender. When Markieff Morris was too much for Domantas Sabonis, the Pacers crossmatched with Young on him. That pipeline to the rim closed as Morris scored just four points after a 12-point outburst. When Beal got past Oladipo, Young is there.

Oladipo and Young complement each other well as their effort spearheads the Pacers' success along with Myles Turner's emergence as a rim protector and Cory Joseph's harassing of ballhandlers into rushed decisions and mistakes.

“That’ was a championship play," Young said of Oladipo taking the charge. "We try to make those plays each and every night. He covers for me. I cover for him. That’s what we do. We fight for one another."

Young is eighth in the NBA in total deflections (95), a reflection of how he lives in passing lanes, and tied for fourth in charges drawn (12).

Oladipo has missed 11 full games with a sore right knee and only played in another vs. the Hawks for just five minutes because of it, is eighth in charges drawn (nine).

Follow IndyStar Pacers Insider J. Michael on Twitter at @ThisIsJMichael.