After such a stellar stretch, the Indiana Pacers were due for a letdown game, and boy did they throw it away against the Toronto Raptors, losing 100-98 in overtime and snapping their 15-game home winning streak. And full credit to the Raptors too, for never giving up and fighting through till the end despite getting some pretty dubious calls against them.

What happened was this: the Pacers, who led most of the way, had a 4 point lead in regulation with 10 seconds to go. It should have been game over at that stage as long as they could knock down free throws. Instead, they allowed Amir Johnson to get a couple of offensive rebounds off a Rudy Gay miss (the Raptors were huge on the offensive glass with 17 for the night) for the putback. Two point game.

Instead of calling a timeout, David West throws a boneheaded pass down the court that gets picked off by Gay. Amir Johnson misses with a little over a second to go, but grabs his own rebound -- again -- and lets go of the ball virtually at the buzzer. The ball drops in. Overtime.

The Pacers, playing their fourth game in five nights, looked pretty gassed, and they threw away plenty of opportunities in OT. George Hill misses a free throw that would have given the Pacers a 1-point lead with 1:30 left in OT. David West then just throws it out of bounds with the game tied and 50 seconds to go. And on what should have been the Pacers' final offensive possession, George Hill dribbles the ball out of bounds on a drive, giving the Raptors 10 seconds for their final shot. 

Rudy Gay delivered with a stepback jumper against Paul George, and the Pacers had 1.7 seconds left for a final shot, but George's leaner went in-and-out off the glass. Game over. Raptors win, Pacers blow a perfect chance to extend their 5-game winning streak and 15-game home winning streak and fall to 31-20.

It's a disappointing loss, for sure, and it's one they can certainly learn from.

Neither Pacer will be considered a favorite, but both will have a chance.

Gerald Green, who is pretty much a bench warmer these days, will get an opportunity to at least do something on the court when he competes in the dunk comp at All-Star Weekend in Houston. Green is an insane dunker, and would be the favorite if it weren't for New York's James White. These two have duked it out in lesser comps before and I believe are a class above the other dunkers. They may be the worst players in the contest but they are by far the best dunkers.

That said, since fan voting will decide the winner, it might turn out to be a silly popularity contest, and that's why higher profile guys like Eric Bledsoe (Clippers)could end up taking it out. I also think Terrence Ross, who has sick hops, is a serious dark horse. The other contestants are Kenneth Faried (Denver) and last year's winner Jeremy Evans (Utah). Either way, with White and Green in there, I think it will be one of the best dunk comps in years.

First-time All-Star Paul George will also be competing in the three-point contest. Make no mistake, PG is a deadly outside shooter, but he's not the pure shooter that Steve Novak (Knicks) is. Ryan Anderson (Hornets)is also dangerous and nothing is as pretty as the sweet stroke of Stephen Curry (Warriors). So yeah, Paul George is an outside chance, but stranger things have happened. I give him as much of a chance as fellow All-Star Kyrie Irving and the Spurs Matt Bonner.

This year's All-Star Weekend will separate contestants into East and West teams for the skill contests. Not sure about the other ones, but the East is looking pretty strong for the dunk comp and the 3P contest.

What a great way to stick it to David Stern.

When the Pacers' Dec. 26 clash with the Bulls was postponed due to a snowstorm, I had a look at both teams' schedules and figured there were plenty of slots for a replacement game that suited both teams. Instead, the NBA decides to shaft the Pacers and hand them the only back-to-back-to-back game of this season, while the Bulls don't even get a back-to-back. So fair, so fair.

After beating the Heat and Atlanta in the first two games by double-digits, the Pacers saved their best for last, crushing the shorthanded 76ers 88-69 for their third win in as many nights. Yes, the 76ers were missing Thaddeus Young and Jason Richardson, and yes the game was ugly and yes the Pacers looked gassed at times -- but they still pulled out the victory to give a massive one-fingered salute to the NBA.

Roy Hibbert had one of, if not the best game of his season by putting up 18 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks. He only shot 8-20 but the entire team shot just 39% as a unit. On the other hand, they kept the 76ers to 34.4% shooting, so there.

Paul George, George Hill and David West each had 15 points, and Orlando Johnson turned out to be the best reserve off the bench with a couple of huge step-back threes. Go figure. And Gerald Green got another DNO- Coach's decision.

During his post-game interview Roy Hibbert said he knows he could and should be playing better and added that he was going to lift weights in the 76ers gym immediately. Shows no matter how badly he may suck at times, he's still giving it all he's got. You can't fault the big fella for effort.

Guys like Paul George and George Hill also ripped into the scheduling and said coach Frank Vogel used the slight as motivation for the team -- and it appears to have worked.

The Pacers are now a solid 31-19 for the season and just 1.5 games behind the Knicks for the second seed in the East. They now get a well-earned single day of rest before facing the new-look Toronto Raptors back home. Rudy Gay will be tough and the Pacers are due for a letdown game after gutting through the last three nights, so we'll see how they respond.

After that it's a massive revenge game against the Nets (whom the Pacers choked against last month in the fourth quarter), followed by what should be a relatively easy one against the Bobcats, before a HUGE game against the Knicks. Good thing all of these games will be at Banker's Life Fieldhouse, where the Pacers have won 15 straight and counting.

I'm glad the Pacers got this one against Hawks because they can be forgiven for losing their game tomorrow night against the 76ers in Philly. It will be their third game in three nights, the only time this will happen to any team in the league this season, thanks to  that rescheduled game against the Bulls.

The 114-103 scoreline makes it sound like a fast paced game, but this one was actually painfully slow -- and awful to watch -- with a total of 59 fouls committed and 68 free throw attempts. A play in the second half took 10 minutes to decide, with multiple replays finally giving the Hawks a flagrant foul and the Pacers a technical. In the end, however, Paul George was simply too much, scoring 29 points to go with 5 rebounds and 4 assists to give the Pacers their fourth consecutive win and 15th consecutive home win. They are now 30-19 for the season and lead the Bulls by half a game for the third seed in the East.

All five starters scored in double figures. West had 15, including a few clutch baskets down the stretch. Hibbert had 12 on 6-8 shooting, George Hill had 15 points and 8 assists, and Lance Stephenson had 14. Mahinmi had 12 and Augustin 10 off the bench. And Gerald Green got a DNP - Coach's decision. That must hurt. Hopefully it will inspire him to improve like it did for Augustin earlier in the season.

The Pacers are now 20-3 at home but just 10-16 on the road. They have to get better away from Banker's Life Fieldhouse, and it can start with the 21-26 76ers tomorrow. The team's offense has been clicking, with tonight's win their third game in a row scoring over 100 points, but the defense has slipped a little. If they can get both working at the same time by the end of the season it will be scary.

The Pacers started their three-games-in-three-nights stretch with a solid 111-101 win over the Chicago Bulls today, pulling the two teams into a tie for the Central Division lead with identical 29-19 records but with the Pacers holding a 2-0 head-to-head edge for the season.

For a while, it looked like the Pacers were going to run away with it after going up 14 early in the fourth and that perhaps Frank Vogel could rest his starters knowing that they had two more games in the next two nights. But to the Bulls' credit, even without Joakim Noah, they were able to fight back and closed within 4 with a 1.5 minutes to go -- until Paul George hit a dagger three-pointer off a screen, and the Pacers were able to hold on by going a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line the rest of the way.

David West continued his beastly ways with 29 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists on 11-18 shooting, and Paul George was again stellar with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. George Hill didn't even miss a shot until the fourth quarter and finished with 22 points and 6 assists on 7-10 shooting.

Lance Stephenson had a good game offensively (15 points, 5 assists) but was absolutely burned on the defensive end by the crafty Marco Belinelli, who led the Bulls with 24 points in as many minutes and was damn near unstoppable at times.

One would think Roy Hibbert would have a big game with Noah out, but no, the big fella continued to struggle with an abysmal 6 points and 9 rebounds on 3-11 shooting. Even when he receives the ball or grabs the offensive rebound right under the ring it's nowhere near a certainty that he can finish. It's that bad.

The Pacers have now won three-straight after dropping the last three games of their West coast road trip. Tomorrow night they play the Hawks, a team they have lost to twice already this season on the road. But this time it's in Indiana, and it's time for revenge.