Oh, it looks like I forgot to post about the Pacers beatdown of Milwaukee the other night in the third game of their back-to-back-to-back.  It wasn't against a top class opponent but a win is a win and given how shaky the Pacers have looked recently in some disappointing losses it was certainly a much needed confidence booster. Here are the highlights.


But tonight, they did beat a top class opponent, albeit one that probably wasn't at the top of its game. The Pacers maybe should have won the last time these two teams played, but they left no possibility of a last second D-Wade shot this time, easily overcoming the Heat 105-90 in Indiana, with newly retired Jeff Foster seen in the commentary booth in a suit.

Dare I say this was the Pacers best win of the year? Sure, they beat some good teams on the road early in the season, but this team had been struggling to find an identity and had been playing through a lot of ups and downs without any semblance of consistency. This win was a massive exclamation point, at least until the next game.

It wasn't just the win, but it was the way the Pacers won that stood out to me.  Total team effort.  All five starters in double figures, led by Grangers 25 and 9. Collison had one of his best games in what feels like centuries, racking up 20 points on 7-12 shooting and 4 timely steals. He disrupted the Heat defense with his speed and even had a two-handed breakaway throwdown, something which I had never seen before from him during a game. 

West had a solid one too, with 10 points and 12 big boards, including 6 on the offensive end.  Paul George had 16 and 10, including a buzzer beating half court shot that put the Pacers up by 3 at the half.

Roy Hibbert had a solid one, with 11 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks. The big man's confidence is back after a post-All Star slump, throwing down a David West-fed alley-oop, facializing Lebron with a vicious one hander and swatting Lebron's layup at the other end.

The bench was not too shabby, even though George Hill, who was coming off a season high against the Bucks, didn't even score. Hansbrough had 8 points including 6 free throws (always a good sign of aggression), but it was Leandro Barbosa, the new recruit, who really spurred the Pacers to victory tonight. Barbosa had 14 points, including two 3-pointers and a three-point play for a 9 point burst in less than 100 seconds. Not quite Reggie-esque but it was brilliant, and the exact reason the Pacers made a good decision to rent him for the remainder of the season (and hopefully beyond).

Enjoy the highlights below. Pacers play the Nets in New Jersey on Wednesday. A dangerous opponent despite their record, so let's hope the Pacers keep up the momentum.



 

Now this was definitely a winnable game that the Pacers let slip away.

Shows just how important a top rate point guard like Steve Nash, even at his advanced age, can be on a team.

One more game tomorrow in the Pacers' second back-to-back-to-back of the season. The Bucks are going to be tough, but let's hope this loss can spur the Pacers on to a better overall team effort.

 

I first caught a glimpse of the score at halftime. It was 51-31, Wizards. I decided to go bang my head against the wall and not look at the score again.

When I finally got around to it, the Pacers had won, 85-83. Should I have been upset that the Pacers were down 22 points to one of the worst teams in the NBA, or should I be glad that they could come back from 22 points down to beat anyone? I guess at the end of the day, a win is better than a loss.

Shrug.  no comments

Sad news. Jeff Foster has announced his retirement from the Indiana Pacers after being unable to get over the back issues that have been plaguing him all season (and the last couple of seasons). At 35 it's a little young, but when you're done you're done, and it's good he was getting out before it got a lot worse

It's unfortunate, as when he did play, Foster was still one of the  best rebounding hustle machines around, and actually helped out the team much more than guys like Pendergraph and Amundson. The good news is that Foster is staying in Indiana and will hopefully work in the Pacers front office some day. He's also going to be hanging around the team for the remainder of the season, and his presence and professionalism will continue to be appreciated.

Foster was drafted with the 21st overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors and has played every single game of his NBA career for the Pacers, putting him in elite company with Reggie Miller and Rik Smits. Sure, Foster's career numbers were modest at best -- 4.9 points, 6.9 rebounds in 20.6 minutes per game, for 764 games, including 345 starts -- but his presence was undeniably positive. He was one of the best rebounders of the modern era even if his averages don't jump out -- he is 8th in NBA history in terms of rebound rate (the percentage of available rebounds grabbed) and 5th all-time in offensive rebound rate. Do you realize how crazy that is for a white guy from Texas who is a weak 6'11" (he's not a long player for his height), just 250 pounds and not supremely athletic?

But it wasn't just his rebounding either. Foster could defend both fours and fives pretty well, block shots, take charges, set screens and do all the dirty work. He was also more than willing to play the villain, as he did against the Bulls in the playoffs last year. Jeff was the last remaining member of the Pacers team that made the NBA Finals in 2000 (even though he didn't play), and I guess it's time to finally let that glorious past go. This new Pacers team has a chance to be pretty good too in a few years, hopefully.

To fill the hole left by Jeff, the Pacers signed Kyrylo Fesenko for the remainder of the season. Fesenko will be a contingency plan and not much more than that. He isn't particularly skilled but he does offer a 7'1", 280 pound body that he likes to throw around a bit.

Thanks Jeff. Your efforts were appreciated and you will be missed. 

Well, not much to complain about this one. The Pacers just ran away with a 102-89 win over the LA Clippers to improve to 26-18 and snapping a 3-game losing streak.

On the face of the boxscore it was Danny Granger's game. The Grange Rover snapped out of a mini-New York funk with 25 points and 8 rebounds on 7-17 shooting, including a few dagger three pointers. But really, it was the Pacers bench that won the game for them tonight. Every single bench player racked up double-digit plus-minuses tonight, and the best plus-minus of any Pacers starter was Granger with +2.

Tyler Hansbrough went nuts in the first quarter and scored 17 overall on 7-10 shooting to somewhat offset Blake Griffin's 23. George Hill was at his best with 15, 4 rebounds and 6 assists on 6-7 shooting, including 3-3 from downtown. And of course, the debut of Leandro Barbosa (I told you he's going to be good for this team!), which was celebrated with 12 points ad 3 assists in 18 minutes of action.

Barbosa + Hill is very fun to watch. Two trailblazers that can slash and score in a number of ways.  Once they get more familiar with each other the Pacers bench is going to be a lot more dangerous.  If only Hansbrough could be more consistent...

On the downside, Dahntay still got some minutes tonight, meaning the guy who loses out in the Barbosa trade is AJ Price. Not to say Price is super but Dahntay, as good as he can be sometimes, is just not a guy I like to watch.

Other things worthy of noting:

After a breakout game against the Knicks last game, it was good to see Roy Hibbert not stinking again. He was okay, with 13 and 7 but took just 8 shots. His best efforts were on the defensive end, keeping DeAndre Jordan in foul trouble and just 2 points on 1-5 shooting. 

Don't know what is going on with David West...3 points, all on free throws? He got into foul trouble early but it's inexplicable how a player of his calibre could shoot just three times in 21 minutes. I would have chalked this up as an anomaly but West scored 3 points and 8 points, respectively, in the back-to-back against th Knicks, making it three single digit games in a row.

Biggest disappointment for me was to see the continued struggle of Darren Collison, who didn't have a horrible game but I had expected a lot more of him against his old mentor Chris Paul. Collison usually steps up against Paul and it was upsetting to see him not use the oppotunity to snap out of a funk that feels like it's been going on forever. He just had 4 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, but on the bright side Paul didn't exactly light him up either (16 and 8)...well, by Paul's usually lofty standards, anyway.

It's not so much Collison's numbers that's been worrying -- it's his ability to get the ball to the right teammate at the right time and knowing when to call his own number...and knowing when not to make boneheaded moves. This is a guy that should be averaging 8 assists a game, not 4.9. I know Vogel's offense doesn't use the PG as much as it should, but Collison is part of the reason the Pacers are dead last in the NBA in assists.

Okily. It was good to get a win. Now the Pacers head to Washington, and let's hope they can get another easy one against the Wizards.