Playoff Preview: Pacers cap solid season with another 3-seed
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Correspondent
A season that began with Danny Granger fighting a sore knee ended with the Pacers making their third consecutive trip to the postseason. In between, there was amazing play on defense, the arrival of Lance Stephenson and an All-Star season for Paul George.
October/November (8-8)
George Hill set the tone for his strong season on opening night, hitting a last-second driving floater to help the Pacers rally for a win. Three days later, Hill scored the first four points of double overtime to beat the Kings. An 0-3 road trip – marred particularly by a blown 14-point fourth-quarter lead against the Hawks – reflected a completely disjointed offense, and the Pacers lost seven of their first 11 games, digging themselves a hole. Having Roy Hibbert shoot 38 percent from the field in November didn’t help, either.
Peak: With the Pacers knotted at 77 with the Lakers entering the final 20 seconds on Nov. 27, things didn’t look very good for the blue and gold, who only minutes before enjoyed an eight-point lead and had controlled the game until Kobe Bryant sunk a tying 3-pointer. But Hill’s banker over Dwight Howard drained the time, lifting the Pacers to a 79-77 win, their third straight over the Lakers at Staples Center.
Valley: The Pacers hit rock bottom on Nov. 14, losing a 99-85 game to the Bucks after a wretched performance at home against the Raptors the night before. Momentum was moving backward. The Pacers held Toronto to five points in the fourth quarter and still lost. As bad as that was, the worst was yet to come as the Pacers were run out of the gym in Milwaukee, falling to 3-6, prompting the coaching staff to realize a bit of offensive motion might not be a bad idea.
December (10-5)
The Pacers recovered from their out-of-the-gates disaster with winning streaks of three and four games, sparking a 7-1 run that launched Indy permanently over .500. The turnaround was due to a light-bulb moment, as Paul George, with a franchise-record nine 3s on Nov. 27, suffered a scoreless outing in the first game of December. Just three days later, George electrified the fan base when he dropped 34 points on Tom Thibodeau’s defense after expanding his pregame shooting routine. But another slide hit, as the Pacers lost at home to Denver and in Oklahoma City to fall to 10-11 a quarter of the way through the season. Three wins against the Cavaliers, 76ers and Pistons lifted their spirits, and another loss at Milwaukee was followed by victories over the Jazz, Cavaliers, Hornets and Suns. That seemed to finally give the Pacers momentum.
Peak: On Dec. 22, after falling behind by 22 points at New Orleans Arena, the Pacers turned to veteran David West, making his first appearance as a visitor in the city he had long called home. West, who joined Hill in carrying a heavy burden in the early months, gave the Pacers the lift they needed, compiling 20 points in the second half and reaching 10,000 for his career to give his team a sweep of the Hornets. Did a good job of just gaining our composure, said West, who never loses his and would be money on clutch shots all season.
Valley: As the Pacers dropped a second game in Atlanta, falling to 8-10 on the road and 1-9 against teams with a winning record, Roy Hibbert endured his own infamous low point, scoring no points and collecting one rebound in 21 pointless minutes, prompting Hibbert to shun the media afterward. More discussion began to revolve around whether Hibbert was worth his max contract.
January (9-6)
After impressively beating Memphis on the final day of 2012, the Pacers settled in for five more home games in the next six and won all five, part of a 10-2 run that boosted them to nine games over .500. The Pacers later went 1-3 on their road trip against the Grizzlies, Trail Blazers, Jazz and Nuggets, scuffling against the tougher Western Conference. Fortunately, they’d done their work earlier in the month at home, taking care of Milwaukee, New York, Miami and Houston to take a big step forward.
Peak: It’s hard to top Paul George’s huge performance against LeBron James on Jan. 8 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, but George Hill’s game-winning free throw at FedEx Forum was more important. Hill’s tiebreaker, which came after a rough day of eight turnovers, gave the Pacers a much-needed quality road win.
Valley: The Nets – the same team the Pacers routinely beat up when that franchise was located in New Jersey – embarrassed the blue and gold in their inaugural visit to the Barclays Center, unleashing a dominant fourth quarter in which the Pacers managed just 11 points in the beautiful new Brooklyn arena. We got sloppy, West said. Not the first time, and it would not be the last.
February (9-3)
Back-to-back collapses against the Raptors and Nets sent the Pacers to the All-Star break on a low note, but it was the six home games in two weeks after the break that gave them hope of gaining separation in the division race. The Pacers delivered on that, winning their first four before hitting a bump on the final day of the calendar’s shortest month. By the end of February, they were 36-22, three games ahead of Chicago in the Central.
Peak: After enjoying a full six days of vacation, the Pacers returned on Feb. 20 in incredible fashion. They destroyed a conference rival, outscoring New York 74-44 while making 23 free throws in the first half. Then the Pacers continued to pile it on, beating the Knicks 125-91 for their second-largest win in the series as Paul George backed up his newfound All-Star status with 27 points.
Valley: On Feb. 8, David West was befuddled by the Raptors on a late turnover while the Pacers allowed baskets at the end of regulation and overtime to snap a 15-game home winning streak. It was Indiana’s first loss at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in two months. West scored 30 points but had five of the team’s 19 turnovers. Fans left dejected after a flat giveaway to a bad team.
March (11-5)
A 2-4 slide in the middle of the month was countered by a 7-1 finish that included four wins by at least 21 points. The stretch put the Pacers 6 ½ games ahead of the fading Bulls in the division and half a game ahead of the Knicks for second place in the conference. The Pacers navigated what some believed to be the roughest part of their schedule with relative ease. Roy Hibbert finally right the ship in March, averaging 16.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game while shooting 47.9 percent from the field. Wins over playoff-bound Houston, Atlanta, Milwaukee and Chicago were mostly spurred by the 7-foot-2 center.
Peak: From the moment Hibbert put on the headset to talk to NBA TV reporters on March 25, it was clear the Pacers’ players held themselves to a higher standard. His angry comments gave teammates notice that nearly blowing a 28-point lead was not OK, helping fuel the team’s hunger during the doldrums of the season. The Pacers responded with a sensational 4-0 Western road trip.
Valley: The Pacers welcomed the Lakers to town on March 15 following a relatively light week, but Kobe Bryant’s exit after the first quarter with a bad ankle injury prompted the Pacers to relax and let down mentally. It ended with a terrible loss to a wounded, undermanned opponent. Then the defense was torched in the subsequent game on Saturday at Philadelphia, a result that would lead coach Frank Vogel to make his first claim of his young 20-somethings being worn down. But that wasn’t the worst news of the month for the blue and gold, as longtime scoring leader Danny Granger was declared out for the season on March 28 after playing in just five games. A November injection to treat patellar tendinosis in Granger’s left knee never corrected the problem and the beloved small forward underwent surgery.
April (2-5)
A showdown with the Clippers – one of the fringe title contenders – gave the Pacers a good test to start the month, as the Pacers shot 55 percent in one of their most jaw-dropping offensive performances of the season and held on for a 109-106 win. The Pacers then went into a sudden swoon with losses to the Thunder, Wizards, Nets and Knicks, moving them from second to third in the final conference standings while backing into their first division title since 2004. Still, the win over the Clippers capped an amazing stretch that saw the Pacers play to their considerable talent level by going 38-16 (.704).
Peak: Obviously, April 1 is the only option. Beating Chris Paul and the Clippers completed a 4-0 Western road swing and reaffirmed that the Pacers had the ability to compete with the best teams in the league. After starting 10-11, the Pacers not only found their way back to the postseason, but proved they should be expected to advance deep into the tournament based on their skill.
Valley: In a matchup dubbed as a battle of All-NBA contenders, Paul George was rendered a non-factor by Oklahoma City, dropping a 97-75 decision to Kevin Durant, who dominated the Pacers. Indiana still finished the season with 30 home wins for the first time in nine years, but this loss, George said, came in a marquee matchup that would have been a nice treat for the fans. More importantly, it triggered a mind-boggling stretch of six straight games to close the year in which the Pacers trailed by at least 20 points.
