Milwaukee had cut Indiana’s lead to four, and T.J. McConnell had helped open the door. His bad pass gave Khris Middleton a steal early in the second quarter. Twenty-two seconds later, Damian Lillard buried a three-pointer. A nine-point cushion had shrunk in 80 seconds.
This was Game 6 on May 2, 2024. Indiana had a chance to finish the series at home. McConnell answered his mistake by drawing a foul and making both free throws. Then he assisted an Aaron Nesmith three-pointer and a Pascal Siakam layup. The league’s official play-by-play records a backup guard continuing to create after a costly error.
That sequence gets closer to bench reliability than a spotless turnover column ever could. A coach needs someone who can survive a mistake without spending the next possession afraid of another one. The job demands judgment, nerve, and enough scoring threat to make defenders move. Second-unit assist-to-turnover ratios help measure that balance, provided the reader looks beyond the final number.
McConnell kept attacking after the mistake
McConnell finished with 20 points, nine assists and one turnover in Indiana’s 120–98 victory. The official scorer’s report also credits him with seven makes on nine shots in 22 minutes, 51 seconds. His 9:1 assist-to-turnover ratio came with substantial offensive work, rather than a handful of cautious touches.
The scoring matters to the argument. Picture a defender backing toward the rim against a guard who refuses to shoot. The passing lane might stay crowded because that defender has little reason to step forward. A backup who takes the available jumper gives the defense another problem.
McConnell’s line shows what productive ball security can look like: personal scoring, chances for teammates, and limited giveaways. It does not prove that every pass came from a defensive breakdown he created. Nor does it tell us how Indiana performed during every stretch without Tyrese Haliburton.
Second-unit assist-to-turnover ratios become useful when the scoring and the passing tell a consistent story. McConnell did more than keep Indiana out of trouble. He gave Milwaukee shots to defend and teammates to track.
One guard carried the bench’s passing load
Move down Indiana’s official scoring sheet, and the picture changes. Adding the reserves’ individual lines produces 13 assists and four turnovers, a 3.25 ratio. McConnell supplied nine of those assists and only one of the giveaways.
His 9:1 mark and the reserves’ 3.25 mark describe the same victory from different angles. Neither number cancels the other. Together, they show how much of the bench’s recorded passing production came from one guard.
That is why second-unit assist-to-turnover ratios need the work behind them. Adding the reserves’ assists and turnovers before dividing preserves the weight of McConnell’s contribution. Averaging their individual ratios would blur it.
Even the combined figure leaves a question hanging: who else helped make those baskets happen? Indiana’s own game log provides the answer.
The starters behind the bench numbers
With 2:47 left in the first quarter, McConnell assisted a Haliburton dunk. Later, his second-quarter passes produced baskets for Nesmith and Siakam. All three finishers started the game.
Those plays count as reserve assists because McConnell delivered the ball. They do not belong to an offense composed entirely of backups. The second quarter opened with McConnell, Ben Sheppard and Isaiah Jackson alongside starters Nesmith and Siakam, according to the official play-by-play.
This is where second-unit assist-to-turnover ratios can flatter a bench. Substitutes collect assists beside starters as well as without them. McConnell’s pass to Haliburton tells us something different from his work while Haliburton rested.
The next rotation needs the right pairing. A connector might fit beside a star; a creator might need a screening center.
Safe passes can leave someone else scrambling
Even the right pairing can stall. A guard backs out of a pick-and-roll and flips the ball to a covered wing.
No turnover appears beside the guard’s name. The wing now has to beat a set defender before the horn. If he forces a desperate drive and loses the ball, the mistake lands elsewhere.
That is the blind spot in second-unit assist-to-turnover ratios: they cannot assign full responsibility for how a possession unraveled. The last touch does not explain the preceding delay. Film has to supply that account.
Follow what happens after the first option disappears. Does the guard reverse the ball into a high-post handoff? Can the screener change the angle and offer a second pick? A dependable bench needs another route toward a good shot, especially when the defense recognizes its opening action.
Pair those possessions with offensive rating, the league’s measure of points scored per 100 possessions. The number helps establish whether the group scored efficiently. Watching the attempts helps explain how it got there.
Missed shots and the price of a giveaway
A guard gets two feet into the paint, draws help, and fires the ball to the corner. The shooter catches in rhythm and misses. Repeat that scene several times, and the passing line can look worse without the decisions getting worse.
Analysts can check potential assists to investigate that gap. League tracking counts passes that lead a teammate to shoot within one dribble. It captures opportunities that missed shots keep out of the assist column, although it does not certify shot quality. A hurried, contested jumper can qualify too.
The turnover column needs similar scrutiny. An illegal screen stops play and gives the defense time to organize. A soft pass across the top can send an opponent racing toward an unprotected basket. The ratio charges one turnover in either case; the next possession can look very different.
Second-unit assist-to-turnover ratios help locate those mistakes. They cannot explain whether a guard misread the coverage, a cutter changed direction, or poor spacing squeezed the passing window shut. Repeated errors deserve accountability, but useful coaching starts with identifying the actual breakdown.
When the easy pass disappears
The next opponent has the same film. Its guards can crowd the backup’s preferred hand, while a wing sits on the pass toward the corner. A screening center may find his usual dive clogged before he takes his first step.
That is the next test for a promising bench. Can the guard reject the screen and reach the paint? Will he take the open pull-up when the big defender retreats? The answer has to appear in possessions, rather than a prettier season average.
McConnell’s Milwaukee performance offers a useful standard for the question, without establishing a universal numerical target. He contributed scoring and assists while limiting his giveaways. His response to the second-quarter error also matters: the next decisions kept Indiana’s offense moving.
Coaches should read second-unit assist-to-turnover ratios alongside the quality of those decisions. An aggressive pass through a closing window and a lazy delivery across the top demand different responses. So does a safe reset that leaves a teammate scrambling to beat the clock.
The starter on the sideline needs a breather. Meanwhile, the players on the floor need a teammate willing to make the next play, even after the previous one went wrong. Bench reliability lives in that responsibility. When the defense closes the easy route, can the backup still find a way through?
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FAQs
Q1. What does a second-unit assist-to-turnover ratio measure?
A. It compares reserves’ assists with their turnovers. It helps assess ball security, but scoring threats and lineup combinations affect what it means.
Q2. How do you calculate a bench assist-to-turnover ratio?
A. Add the reserves’ assists, then divide by their total turnovers. Use the combined totals rather than averaging individual ratios.
Q3. What was T.J. McConnell’s ratio in Game 6 against Milwaukee?
A. McConnell recorded nine assists and one turnover on May 2, 2024, giving him a 9:1 ratio in Indiana’s 120–98 win.
Q4. Why can bench assist numbers be misleading?
A. Reserves also play beside starters. Their assists can reflect help from those starters rather than offense created by an all-reserve lineup.
Q5. Do potential assists measure good passes?
A. They track passes that lead to a shot within one dribble. They include missed shots but do not tell you whether the attempt was good.
