Unfortunately, the Indiana Pacers will head to All-Star Weekend (even though none of them will be going, not even Collison/George/Hansbrough for the Rookie/Sophomore game) on a sour note after losing to the very beatable Detroit Pistons, 115-109 in OT.

The Pacers were lucky to have pushed it to OT, having trailed for much of the game, and some of it by double figures.  But in the end, the Pistons just wanted it more.  They got to the loose balls and made all the hustle plays, much like how the Pacers did against the Heat the night before -- except here, the less talented team managed to get the victory.

The silver lining is that Roy Hibbert continued his strong play, tying his career high again with 29 points and 9 rebounds.  Danny Granger added 28, which Josh McRoberts added 15 and 12.  Darren Collison has struggled lately and again played sub-par tonight -- 6 points (3-11 shooting), but he did have 9 assists.  Hopefully he will get out this slump soon because I still love what I see from him on the offensive side, always pushing the ball the way the Pacers need to.

The loss pushes the Pacers down to 24-30, still in the 8th spot, but falling futher behind 7th spot Philadelphia (27-29).  However, I am still confident that if the Pacers continue to play the way they have been playing, they should be able to secure that 7th position, even though at the end of the day it doesn't matter whether they play Boston or Miami -- because they've got no chance.  But still, it's all part of the growing pains the Pacers will have to endure to become a better team.

Here's to hoping the team gets a fantastic break, some well earned rest, and come back after All-Star Weekend refreshed and engergized for the remainder of the season.  They are currently on track to win 36 games, but I believe they can get close to cracking 40 if things continue to progress.

The Indiana Pacers lost to the Miami Heat again today, 110-103, pushing them down to 7-2 in the Frank Vogel era (both losses to Miami). 

But still, I can't help but feel optimistic about the remainder of the season. 

I'm just loving what I'm seeing from this team right now.  All guts, all hustle.  Even against a vastly superior, significantly more talented team, the Pacers never gave up.  They closed the talent gap between the two teams by putting in a tremendous effort at both ends of the floor.

Get this: the Pacers were outscored 41-17 in the first quarter behind an insane D-Wade at his very best (41 points, 12 rebounds all up).  And yet the Pacers came all the way back and even took the lead a couple of times in the second half, only to again falter down the stretch thanks to big plays from Miami's Big Three (who combined for 90 of the team's 110 points).  There wasn't much the Pacers could do.

Great to see Paul George and Tyler Hansbrough playing like the future of this team.  George had 14 points and 5 rebounds and Hansbrough had 16 and 5.  George is a rookie, Hansbrough is practically a rookie.  Collison and AJ Price are second year players.  Roy Hibbert and Brandon Rush are third year players.  The future is very bright indeed.

Frank Vogel was proud of his guys after the game, and rightly so.  "I'm proud of our guys," he said. "This is what I'm talking about when I talk about smashmouth basketball, blood and guts, never quitting. All heart, all hustle."

Darn right.  And Hibbert's confidence has definitely not waned after another stellar effort (18 points, 7 rebounds): "The rest of the season, we're coming. We're not backing down. We're not having any lackadaisical games. We're on the prowl. We're hungry."

Go Pacers!  It's time for another winning streak.  Up next: @Detroit, @Washington, Detroit.

Apologies for not having posted after the last two Pacers wins -- a come from behind 116-105 victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves at home (thanks to Dahntay Jones's 19 points in the fourth quarter) and a well-earned 103-97 victory against nemesis Milwaukee Bucks (who had beaten the Pacers twice already this season including that Bogut buzzer tip in).

That makes it 7-1 in the Frank Vogel era as the Pacers improve to 24-28 -- making them one full game behind Philadelphia (7th) and two full games ahead of the Charlotte Bobcats (9th).

The Pacers have been making plenty of mistakes during this streak, allowed teams to come back, turned the ball over on crucial possessions, missed lots of head scratching free throws -- and yet they continue to play with confidence and continue to win.

As Danny Granger said, they are now playing to their strengths.  They are using Hibbert down low, using the physicality of Hansbrough and Foster, the athleticism of McRoberts, the penetration of Collison, and the shooting of Granger and Dunleavy.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet like we did earlier in the season when the Pacers were on fire.  We're not even at the All-Star break yet.

Looking ahead, a tough home game against the Miami Heat, a team the Pacers really should have beaten again in Miami last week before some vintage Lebron James brought them all the way back from a double digit deficit.  This time I still don't expect the Pacers to win, but I expect them to compete and have a decent chance. 

Win or lose, the next few games are key: @Detroit, @Washington, Detroit -- three more winnable games.  But then the road gets tougher, and it's a stretch that can either push the Pacers over the hump or throw them back down in the dumps again -- Utah, Phoenix, Golden State, @Oklahoma City, @Dallas, @Houston, Philadelphia.  Huge, huge stretch for the Pacers.  If they can win win three out of four against the Heat, Pistons and Wizards, and then be 4-3 after that, they'll be in a good spot.

Another game that really shouldn't have been this close, but a win is a win. And it's a big one. The Indiana Pacers were very fortunate to come away with a 104-103 victory against the Charlotte Bobcats after again squandering almost all of their double digit lead in the 4th quarter. Roy Hibbert continued his strong play of late to finish with a career high tying 29 points to go with 10 rebounds. Danny Granger had 25, Darren Collison had 15, and Josh McRoberts finished with 12 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. This was a perfect opportunity for the Pacers to come out flat against a heartbreaking loss against the Heat the night before, but again they played strong and hard all night. It's just that come 4th quarter time they tend to tense up and keeping turning the ball over or taking bad shots. It wasn't just one guy either -- they were all equally to blame. Fortunately, the Bobcats missed one out of two free throws and the Pacers made both of theirs to give them a one point lead. When Collison missed a pull up jumper with just a few seconds to go, ex-Pacer Stephen Jackson raced up the court instead of calling a time out, and tried to draw a foul from Collison by jumping into him on a 30 footer at the buzzer. No call, and the Pacers escape with the win. With the victory, the Pacers now hold the 8th and final playoff spot in the East outright, and it also gave them a series win against the Bobcats in case a tiebreaker is needed. I don't think they can catch the Knicks, but if the Pacers keep this up there's no reason why they can't overtake the 76ers and take the 7th seed. Next up, another winnable game -- the Minnesota Timberwolves. Better keep an eye on Kevin Love.

For all intents and purposes, these Indiana Pacers had no right challenging the Miami Heat in South Beach.  Let's face it.  As well as they have been playing against lesser teams recently, no one expected the Pacers to have much of a shot against an almost full strength Heat squad on a 6-game winning streak.  This was supposed to be their reality check.

But for most of their 117-112 loss, the Pacers were just as good, if not better than their superstar studded rivals.  They played extremely hard against a team miles ahead of them in talent, attacking every play and never giving up.  The fact that they thought they had a chance, and the fact that they had a great chance, speaks volumes about how far this team has come since Jim O'Brien was fired.  And it was terrific to see how disappointed the team was about losing such a close game.  They could have been happy to have pushed a contender this far.  But no.  There are no moral victories for a team struggling to stay in the playoff race.

This was not the same Miami team the Pacers beat earlier in the year.  This Miami team was clicking on all cylinders and looking to avenge that earlier loss in the season.  And it took a vintage Lebron James effort -- 41 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists -- including some massive baskets down the stretch -- and a few mental lapses by the Pacers (Danny Granger being blown by when isolated, leading to Roy Hibbert fouling out; and Dahntay Jones's 5-second inbound violation with a chance to tie) for Miami to escape with the win.

Pacers fans must be excited after this game even though it was a loss.  20 and 10 for Hibbert.  19 for Granger.  18 for Hansbrough.  15 and 8 for Collison.  They can hold their heads up high.

And as big as this game was, tomorrow's is even bigger.  A home game against the Charlotte Bobcats, who are currently half a game ahead of the Pacers for the 8th and final playoff spot in the East.  Bring it on.