George Hill was on fire. A three point play and a three-pointer helped the Pacers tie the game with the Timberwolves at 94 with less than 4 seconds left. On the Wolves' final possession, new addition Gerald Green momentarily lost track of his man, Chase Budinger. Pass. Lay up. Game over. Pacers fall to 2-4 to start the 2012-2013 season.

There's no doubting it anymore. The Pacers are struggling and need help. It's no longer a question of whether this team will challenge the Heat in the East -- even making the playoffs is now in serious question. On the bright side, the Pacers have played 5 of their 6 games on the road so far. There's still 75 games left and plenty of time to right the ship. Danny Granger will eventually be back (even though he might not be 100%). 

But there are plenty of issues to be addressed and it looks like perhaps this team is not as good as we thought it was. David West and George Hill are now the indisputed alpha dogs with Granger out. They are the team's go-to guys, and rightfully so. Paul George has shown he is not ready to carry the load offensively. He has made strides to his overall game, but his scoring and shooting percentages remain relatively weak. Roy Hibbert, sigh, might never be more than what he is now. The Pacers had no choice to overpay him over the summer and everyone loves what he does in the community and with the fans. But let's be real. He hasn't come close to playing like a max player. Not even a solid starting NBA center, which is the absolute minimum of what is expected of him. It's depressing.

The biggest problem to me is the poor play of the trio of newcomers who were supposed to improve the team. As Darren Collison continues to break out in Dallas, DJ Augustin has struggled mightily. I don't think I've ever seen his confidence this low, and I've seen him play on the worst team of all time in Charlotte. Gerald Green can score, but as we saw tonight, his defense and shot selection still leaves a lot to be desired. And with the way Hibbert has been playing so far, you'd think Mahinmi could steal some more minutes.

The only major positive I've seen apart from Hill being ready to step up and West's recovery is -- I never thought I'd say this -- Lance Stephenson. There's not much to say except he's finally ready.

 

A lot of Pacers fans would like to know what the team would be like without Danny Granger. Well, now they have their wish.

The Pacers' leading scorer of the last 5 years has been sidelined for 3 months after undergoing a procedure for his aching left knee. This means Granger won't play again until early January, and knowing that he is a notoriously slow starter, he might not hit full stride until the playoffs, IF the Pacers even make it.

Right now, the Pacers are 2-3, after suffering an embarrassing 89-86 loss to the Hawks in which they were outscored 24-9 in the fourth quarter.

George Hill and David West led the way with 20 points apiece, but Roy Hibbert continued his struggles with only 9 points and 7 rebounds in 37 minutes. He's not the only one struggling either. The three newcomers who were supposed to take the team to the next level, DJ Augustin, Gerald Green and Ian Mahinmi, remain awful.

But at least now they know Granger won't be around for a while and they can't count on his scoring for three months. Time for Paul George to step up and show that he has what it takes to be a franchise player. Time for Roy Hibbert to start acting like a max player. Time for George Hill to live up to his contract. Actually, it's time for all of them to get serious, because right now things don't look great. 

I'm not gonna bother with a long recap. Right now, the Indiana Pacers are simply no match for the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs are just smoother, more co-ordinated, more efficient and better at both ends of the floor right now, and it showed in the 101-79 drubbing they gave to the Pacers on Tuesday.

None of the Pacers played well, but that's probably because the Spurs didn't let them. It was ugly for the blue and gold for the majority of the night, save for maybe a short stretch before the end of the first half when they brought a 20 point deficit back down to 9. Roy Hibbert was 1-7 with 2 points and 3 turnovers in 27 minutes. The 179-year-old Tim Duncan? 14 points and 11 rebounds to go with 3 steals and 3 blocks in 26 minutes.

It was a much needed wake up call for the Pacers because even though they were 2-1 to start the season (before this loss) they were playing pretty crappy basketball. Losing Danny Granger indefinitely is no excuse. They need to get their act together soon, and they might as well start with their next game on Thursday in Atlanta.

I was too depressed after the Pacers lost to the Charlotte Bobcats yesterday to write a recap. The same Bobcats that had lost 23 games in a row dating back to last season. The Pacers were sloppy with their passes, took their opponents lightly, missed a zillion free throws, and just got outworked all night. That said, the Pacers actually still had a chance to win the game, but an 18-foot DJ Augustin jumper from the baseline clanked off the rim as time expired, denying him the chance of playing hero against his former team.

The Pacers regrouped and played their first home game tonight against the Sacramento Kings. Two overtimes later, they escaped with hard fought 106-98 victory. Paul George filled up the stat sheet with 16 points, 17 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks. David West had 18 and 18. George Hill had 18, 8 and 5, while Roy Hibbert finished with 12, 10 and 6 blocks.

It wasn't pretty, but 3 games into this new season the Pacers are 2-1, even though all three of their opponents are projected non-playoff teams, teams they ought to have dominated instead of playing down to the wire. So yes, there are concerns, but the season is still young, and the Pacers appear to be working out some chemistry issues still.

Observations:

• Roy Hibbert has been lackluster so far this season. His numbers have been OK, but they are not representative of the type of games he has been having. His teammates have been trying to feed him the ball but he's not securing the right position down in the low post. He still hasn't figured out how to receive the entry pass safely and when he gets fronted he appears completely lost. Even when he has gotten the ball in position his slowfootedness has led to quicker players stripping the ball away from him. On defense, he's still bringing his hands down on block attempts instead of going straight up and falling for pump fakes from players a foot shorter than him, leading to unnecessary foul trouble. Those are things he still needs to work on.
• Free throw shooting against the Bobcats was atrocious. 16 of 27 against the worst team in the league is practically asking them to beat you. 24 of 27 against the Kings was much more like it. Every player on this team should be capable of shooting at least 75% from the line every night.
• Lance Stephenson has been a pleasant surprise this season. I've been a vocal critic of him since he was drafted by the Pacers but he is showing that he might finally be ready. He had 15, 6 and 4 against the Bobcats (top scoring honors with Hansbrough) and 10 points against the Kings. Most notably, he played 32 minutes in the Kings game, a sign that Frank Vogel has a lot of confidence in him.
• Tyer Hansbrough looks rejuvenated this season. He'll always he awkward and unpretty but he has played with more confidence. He still has trouble finishing at the rim but he is a key spark off the bench and a foul-drawing machine.
• The newcomers have struggled. Gerald Green had his first decent game against the Kings with 17 points on 6-9 shooting, but he has struggled defensively. Ian Mahinmi, after a solid preseason, has struggled offensively, while DJ Augustin has struggled at both ends. Augstin, in particular, must be feeling the pressure as Darren Collison, the man he replaced, is getting off to a strong start in Dallas.
• David West has struggled with his shot a little since his monster game 1, but he remains the Pacers' most reliable offensive player.
• The team is still missing Danny Granger's offense. We complain about him when he plays, but without him the Pacers are simply not the same.
• I've started to accept the fact that the Pacers will always be a grind 'em out kind of team. They will rarely blow other teams out but could get some tight wins against top teams.

Update in former Pacers: 

- Brandon Rush is out for the season with a torn ACL
- Darren Collison is killing it as the starter for the Mavs. He's averaging more than 17 points and 7 assists a game while shooting around 60% from the field.
- Dahntay Jones is not getting much burn in Dallas.
- Mavs also signed for Pacer Troy Murphy.
- Lou Amundson still hasn't played a game for the Wolves.
- Leandro Barbosa has cooled off considerably after his stellar opener against the Heat. His defensive weaknesses might have something to do with it.

The Pacers next head to San Antonio to face the Spurs on Monday. It will be a serious test. 

I tell you what: I was ready to write about how it was a long season and that a road loss to the Raptors in the Pacers' season opener was not an alarm but a learning experience. Danny Granger is out indefinitely with a knee injury and George Hill is still recovering from hip and thumb injuries -- those were the excuses I was going to use (and not the fact that the Raptors flat out played harder for the majority of the game).

But instead, David West entered "beast mode" and George Hill finished them off with a floater with 2 seconds left on the clock. Pacers claw back from an 8-point deficit with 4 minutes to go and win 90-88. Remarkable.

MVP:

Of course, it is veteran David West. I told you he was going to be in "beast mode" often this season and he absolutely was tonight. 25 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter alone during a stretch where the team went to him on every possession and he delivered on just about all of them, helping the Pacers rally all the way back before George Hill slashed into the lane to hit that floater on the Pacers' final possession of the game (before Bargnani airballed a fallaway at the buzzer whilst defended by West).

West has been, since being acquired last season, the Pacers' most reliable offensive threat. It's great to see him looking like the David West of old.

Key moment:

3:27 left in the 4th quarter. David West, who had just scored 10 consecutive points for the Pacers to bring the deficit to 6 points (86-80), finally misses a jumper. Roy Hibbert beats everyone by diving to the floor for the offensive rebound and calls a timeout before the Raptors can wrap him up. West assists on a George Hill 3-pointer from the timeout, then makes two more big baskets to bring the Pacers back within one, setting up the epic finish.

Observations:

• The Pacers are clearly still getting used to the new players and season-opening jitters. Plenty of horrible turnovers (18) including 12 in the first half alone. Also a lot of possessions that wasted far too much time before getting going.
• The team was efficient, though, in getting good shots and putting the ball in the hole at 47.4% including 5-11 from the 3-point line. Conversely, the D was good enough to hold the Raptors to 36.3% from the field.
• Paul George probably isn't going to significantly increase his scoring average this season, but he sure is going to fill up the stat sheet on a nightly basis. Tonight he had 14 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists to go with a block. Surprised he didn't get at least a couple of steals.
• Roy Hibbert was solid and lived up to my expectations after securing that massive offseason contract. He dominated the smaller defenders and his teammates must get credit for consciously trying to feed him the ball down low. 14 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 blocks is what we should demand from him every night.
• Danny Granger's absence was felt on the offensive end as Gerald Green struggled with 6 points on 2-7 shooting and had a team high 6 turnovers. Green will be fine, though I much prefer to see him with the second unit.
• Ian Mahinmi and DJ Augustin also struggled in their regular season debuts after solid preseason finishes. Mahinmi scored 1 point and had 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 19 minutes and Augustin had 5 points, only 2 assists and 2 turnovers in 15 minutes.
• Tyler Hansbrough didn't seem to play any different but it was good to see him be aggressive and get 20 minutes of court time. Lance Stephenson also produced in 13 minutes of floor time with 5 points and 4 rebounds.
• As expected, coach Vogel used a 10-man rotation. Sam Young, who filled in at SF off the bench, will likely fall out of the rotation once Granger returns.
• The Pacers won this game because of David West and because they believed in their ability to grind out games. They had plenty of these types of games last season where they had to be patient in wearing down their opponent and that experience was the key to getting tonight's win.

Pacers play their next game against the Charlotte Bobcats.