Milwaukee is simply one of those teams the Pacers don't match up well against, primarily because of the quickness of their guards, Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis.

As expected, the dynamic backcourt duo gave the Pacers all sorts of problems and combined for 55 points, with Jennings' 34 leading the way in their 98-93 win, their second of the season against Indiana.

But it was former Pacer Mike Dunleavy that provided the spark the Bucks needed by returning from injury to score 17 points, including a four-point play and a big bucket down the stretch to hold the Pacers at bay.

To be honest, it wasn't a horrible loss for the Pacers considering their careless turnovers (20!) and their problems with quick guards who can create their own shot off the dribble. Despite the crazy baskets Jennings was hitting (the Bucks would have been blown out if he was missing them), the Pacers were right there for the majority of the game and even had a chance to tie it with less than 30 seconds to go on a wide-open three from Paul George that missed off the side of the rim.

George Hill led the way with 18 points and 5 rebounds, while Paul George continued his all-round play after winning player of the week with a 16, 10 and 5 stat line, though he did have 5 turnovers. David West struggled tonight and finished wit 12 points and 6 rebounds, but spent most of the night complaining to the refs about no-calls.

Roy Hibbert and Lance Stephenson both returned from injury, with Hibbert putting up 8 and 10 in 28 minutes and Stephenson held to just 3 points. Ian Mahinmi was the best off the bench with 14 points and 5 rebounds.

The 13-12 Pacers need another winning-streak to get as far away from 0.500 as possible, and they can start with the next game, at home againt the Jazz tomorrow.

They may not have lost much on the offensive end, but the loss of Roy Hibbert in the second quarter to a bruised thigh certainly made me sweat a little. Fortunately, David West buckled down and entered beast mode in the second half, and George Hill and Paul George continued their stellar play as the Pacers overcame the Pistons 88-77 in Detroit, giving them their first three-game winning streak of the season.

The Pacers (13-11) have been one of the best defensive teams in the league this season largely due to the presence of Hibbert, who has become an anchor down low and a shot blocking machine. Sure, he might also be one of the most inept offensive centers in the league right now, but his defense is a big reason why the Pacers have been able to win games despite struggling on offense.

Hibbert already had 4 blocks in 15 minutes when he went straight to the locker room for treatment. Detroit kind of hung around because of that, especially after David West went to the bench with four fouls in the third. Pendergraph got eight minutes of play, but the guy who contributed most off the bench was Tyler Hansbrough, who had 11 points and 6 boards in 25 minutes, including a bunch of hustle plays.

In the end though, it was the stellar trio of West, Hill and George that got the job done. West exploded for 19 of his 23 points in the second half, pretty much toying with the Piston's defense, hitting step back jumpers, driving left handed layups and jump hooks. He also had 5 rebounds and 4 assists in an all-round beastly effort.

George Hill backed up his first career triple-double with 18 points and 7 assists, but what impressed me the most was that he did it on just 7 field goal attempts, hitting 5, while also knocking down all 6 free throw attempts.

Paul George, who had 15, didn't pour in the points tonight but he didn't have to. He struggled a little with his shot, hitting 6-16 (including 1-7 from downtown), but he did flirt with a triple-double by adding 8 assists and 8 rebounds, plus 4 steals and a block. George and West are really becoming a dynamic duo and have the best chemistry of any two teammates on the team.

Next up, another huge game on the line against the Central leading Bucks in Milwaukee on Tuesday. That team's lineup is all wrong for the Pacers, so hopefully both Roy and Lance Stephenson will be back from injuries by then.

The end of the first half had me wondering whether the Pacers were destined to lose tonight's game against the 76ers. David West scores on a tip in to give the Pacers a 4-point lead with about 4 seconds to go. Off the inbound, Paul George goes for the steal and commits a foul with the Pacers over the limit. Two free throws later, David West gets his inbound pass intercepted, leading to a layup. Game tied. Another full court pass goes out of bounds. Spencer Hawes gets the inbound pass from the baseline and swishes a turnaround at the buzzer over Roy Hibbert. Pacers go from leading by 4 to be down by 2 at the half.

Fortunately, they put that debacle behind them and came out with a strong third quarter (29-22) and then held off the 76ers in the fourth to win 95-85, moving them a game over 0.500 again at 12-11.

Are things finally coming together for the Indiana Pacers? Every time I say something like thay, the Pacers go on a skid, so for now I'll say the question is still up in the air. Tomorrow's game against the Pistons in Detroit will give the Pacers another chance to score their first three-game winning streak of the season, so let's see if they take advantage or disappoint again.

But for now, the Pacers should be feeling pretty good about themselves after a strong effort against the 76ers that saw three strong performances. Paul George continued his scoring spree by putting up a game-high 28 points to go with 6 rebounds and 3 blocks in yet another tremendous effort. Is six good games in a row sufficient to be regarded as consistent? Maybe not, but George is starting to look pretty comfortable out there.

Secondly, Roy Hibbert had his best game of the season with 19 points, 13 rebounds and 3 assists. Most of all, he shot 9-16 from the field! Granted, he was playing against Kwame Brown, but anything over 35% shooting is pretty good for Roy these days.

Lastly, George Hill landed his first career triple-double with 15 and a pair of 10s. He shot 6-13, and that's better than how he has been doing in most games recently.

Funnily enough, it was David the Beast West that struggled the most by shooting 5-17 from the field, even though he did finish with 14 and 6. It was just an off night for him and I'm sure he'll bounce back tomorrow.

Maybe it's the addition of Ben Hansbrough to the Pacers rotation, but for some reason I wasn't that nervous even when the Cavs were hitting everything and sped to a double digit lead in Wednesday night's game. It just seemed improbable that they could keep those percentages up against one of the best defensive teams in the league. The question was whether the Pacers could score enough points to come back.

Turns out they didn't have to score a lot. The Pacers kept the Cavs to 23 second half points and ended up routing them 96-81 despite trailing by 6 at the half.

Paul George continued his consistent output by leading the way with 27 points. For those keeping tabs, since laying that goose egg in Golden State, PG24 has scored 34, 22, 22, 17, and 27 in his last five games while hitting 45-88 shots (51%) from the field. His scoring average for the season is now up to 16, and I think it will only continue to go up.

David West continued beast mode with 18, 9 and 7, and George Hill had 17 and 7, though he continues to shoot way too much (5-16 from the field). Lance Stephenson had another strong game (9 points) before he sprained his ankle. He will likely miss some time.

The most exciting part of the game was when Ben Hansbrough played alongside his big brother Tyler to lead the Pacers bench. I'll tell you what -- the idea of them being a dynamic duo might not be that far fetched. Baby Hans played 17 minutes and had 6 points, and assist and 2 steals without a turnover, while Big Hans had 7 points and 3 rebounds in 13 minutes.

Early in the fourth quarter, a battle for a rebound ended up Tristan Thompson throwing a wild elbow that connected with B-Han's head, sending big brother in a furious "don't you mess with my kid brother" rage. It was awesome to see and highly entertaining.

Big game next against Philly at home on Friday. Huge game, actually.

Let's face it, it's now only going to be a matter of time before the Indiana Pacers capture their maiden NBA title, because coach Frank Vogel has announced that Ben Hansbrough, the baby brother of Tyler "Psycho-T" Hansbrough, is about to become the Pacers' back-up point guard. Starting (well, coming off the bench) tonight in their game against the Cavaliers.

There's no telling where this move will take the Pacers, but given how DJ Augustin (and to be fair, the majority of the Pacers bench on most nights) has played so far this year (like a turd on a stick), surely things cannot get worse.

At the very least, B-Hans will play every possession like his life depends on it. At least his NBA life, anyway, because it's true. No one expected him to even make the 15-man roster. Everyone thought he only got a shot because of his big brother. But in pre-season and exhibition play at least, B-Hans wasn't awful and actually stringed together a few decent games. Not bad for a 6'3" undrafted point guard. Then again, Augustin played pretty well before the season started too.

Perhaps B-Hans will revive his big bro, who is still a psycho but has yet to find a way to consistently channel that psychosis into net positives. Maybe Tyler might start passing the ball now. Even if it's just to his little brother, at least it's somebody. Or maybe the siblings will develop some sort of supernatural chemistry and become the best dynamic bench duo in the league?

Honestly though, all jokes aside, B-Hans shouldn't be looked upon as anything more than Vogel trying something new to try and give his bench and Augustin a kick up the backside. He's not going to be the next Jeremy Lin, and when he struggles -- and he undoubtedly will -- it's not because he's not trying hard enough. 

Best of luck!