Well, no one expected the Pacers to repeat their performance against the Denver Nuggets the other night. 

Tonight, the Pacers took on the Yao-less Houston Rockets, who have struggled themselves out of the gate.  It was a close game with some questionable calls down the stretch (including a tech on Josh McRoberts and a series of no calls as the Pacers tried to claw their way back), but the Pacers couldn't get off a decent three point shot on the final possesion, losing 102-99 and dropping to 3-4 for the season.

I knew this was going to be a tough game because even though the Rockets were only 1-6 coming into the game (winless on the road) and are currently without both Yao Ming and Aaron Brooks, they are a solid team -- perhaps the best 1-6 team I've seen!  And when key guys are out, the other guys usually step up.

That's exactly what happened tonight as Brad Miller lit up his former team for 23 points, including a couple of big threes down the stretch, Kevin Martin had 20 and Luis Scola had 16.  But the guy that posed the most obvious problems was Kyle Lowry, who made both Darren Collison and TJ Ford struggle on the defensive end.

For the Pacers, James Posey, who didn't even play against the Nuggets, top scored with 19 points, including several big shots in the third quarter as the Pacers erased a 10 point deficit.  Danny Granger added 17, Roy Hibbert had 18, and Mike Dunleavy had 15.

What this game showed, once again, is that this Pacers team is going to have A LOT of ups and downs this season.  This game was not as bad as the thrashing at the hands of the 76ers earlier in the season, but it wasn't anything close to what we saw against the Nuggets either.  Still too many bad passes, bad shot decisions, bad turnovers.  Their defense is still not there yet, but when this team is sharing the ball, they are a nightmare to guard.  If they can just get a bit of consistency at both ends of the court, there is no reason why this team cannot make the playoffs.

Other things this game showed:

1. Brandon Rush isn't going to average 16 points a game this season (which was what he scored in his first game!).  He struggled with open shots tonight, going 1-7 and finishing with just 2 points.  Let's just hope he's capable of averaging 12-14 a night.  I think that's realistic.

2. Tyler Hansbrough played just 11 minutes and scored 4 points, but the kid has potential.  Offensively, he is a huge upgrade on Josh McRoberts.  I like Josh and the energy he brings, but he isn't good enough to be a starter, even on this team.  He does a good job rebounding and hustling, but he counters the good with a lot of bad decisions and his offensive game is sporadic at best.

3. Rookie Paul George got dropped out of the rotation as O'Brien says the kid's head is not in the right place at the moment.  I'm no NBA coach, but Jim O'Brien's decisions really puzzle me.  What is the deal with his rotations?  You don't play Posey one night, and the next night he gets 26 minutes.  Posey was on fire in the third quarter, but what does O'Brien do at the start of the fourth?  Take him right out.  I just don't get it.

4. Granger is a terrific player, but he can't carry this team alone.  He doesn't have that superstar aura about him yet.  He seldom takes over a game when he needs to.  When guys like Kobe, Wade, Lebron, Paul, Durant, etc get the ball with the clock winding down, you believe they're going to score or make a play leading to a score.  You don't get that with Granger.  Not yet anyway.

5. Collison is going to be a great PG in this league, but he's not there yet either.  He shows flashes of brilliance but he too makes a lot of silly errors.  There's no doubt he's a better player than TJ Ford, but I can understand why O'Brien goes with Ford over Collison sometimes.

Next up, the Pacers head to Cleveland to take on the Cavaliers.  Very important game because they are entering a tough part of the schedule where they will face the likes of Atlanta, Orlando, Miami, Oklahoma City and the LA Lakers.  If this young team falls too far behind 0.500 early in the season they may never recover.

 

I am speechless.  I am without speech.

I was out and about when I decided to check the score of the Indiana Pacers-Denver Nuggets game.  When the score flash up, I decided I must have been dreaming.  It was the end of the third quarter and the Pacers were up 113-76.  I looked at the quarter stats and saw that the Pacers had just completed a 54 point quarter.  I thought someone must have hacked into my computer and posted a fake game update!  How can a team score 54 points in a quarter?  And the Pacers of all teams?

Anyway, the Pacers remained relatively hot and finished the game 144-113.  It was just an insane night of basketball, especially when you consider what happened in Miami with Paul Millsap going nuts all by himself.

As soon as I got the chance, I watched the entire game on NBA League Pass.  All I can say is that it's one of the most surreal Pacers games I've ever seen.  The team played well in the first half to get a 10 point lead.  The Nuggets were playing their fourth game in five nights, so they were understandably tired, but I expected them to come out strong in the third, which they kind of did.

But the Pacers just lost it.  Granger was swishing jumpers (19 points).  Hibbert was knocking down shots in the post (17 points).  Collison, hot all night, got it going inside and out (season high 29).  Rush, back from suspension, had a solid return game, hitting a few of his own (16 points).  And of course, there was Mike Dunleavy doing his Reggie Miller impression.  24 points, including 5-5 from three-point range in the third quarter.  He finished with 31 points.

Cra-zy.  The most incredible stat of the night was that the Pacers hit their first 20 shots in a row in the third quarter.  They only missed one field goal, the very last one, when Josh McRoberts took a three with the clock winding down.

This was a historic game I'm pretty sure we'll never see again, and it is just ONE game, so let's not get carried away -- but there's lots of great things to take away from it and build on.  Collison was on fire, picking up the tempo and taking his shots when the opportunities presented themselves.  Granger was learning to take better shots, as was Hibbert.  McRoberts and Hansbrough were hustling and grabbing shots (and Hansrough is a much better offensive player than I had given him credit for).  And Brandon Rush -- if he can put in this type of effort (16 points) every night then the Pacers would have proven everyone wrong about giving him a contract extension.

There will be nights when the shots simply don't fall, but on this night, everything did.

The Pacers next play the Rockets at home on Saturday.

The Indiana Pacers lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, 94-90, in a game they really should have won.

There really isn't a nice way to say it -- they choked.  After scoring 60 points in the first half to take an 8 point lead, the Pacers couldn't make a basket in the second half, spluttering down the stretch as the Bucks, who weren't shooting well either, came all the way back to take the lead in the fourth.

The loss is disappointing because it was a good chance for the Pacers to bounce back after a horrendous loss to the 76ers, especially as the Bucks were without Andrew Bogut (migraine), a player with a great track record against the Pacers.

Collison and Granger had 19 apiece, and Hibbert had another strong outing with 14 points, 12 boards, 4 assists and 6 blocks, but turnovers and poor, indecisive shot choice cost the Pacers in the end.  As a team, they had 19 turnovers, the main culprits being Granger (7) and Hibbert (6).

To me, this game demonstrated four things very clearly.

1. Despite their 2-1 start (now 2-3), the Pacers are going to struggle a lot this season.  The upcoming stretch is key because if they start piling up the losses, we might see a replay of last year, where they simply fell apart and never got back into the playoff race.

2. The margin of error this season is very small.  The Pacers need to play consistently in all facets of the game to have a chance to win every time they play, no matter how poor the opposition.

3. Collison is still uncomfortable running the point in O'Brien's system.  Is it just me or do all PGs seem to struggle with O'Brien's system?  He only had 2 assists last game and is averaging 4.4 for the season.  Last season he averaged 5.6 playing 1.5 minutes less per game.

4. The Pacers are still missing that big time shot maker, that guy the team can count on to make a basket when they truly need it.  Hibbert has the heart but he is not quite there offensively.  Granger should be the guy and has hit some big shots in the past, but so far this season he doesn't appear to have that killer instinct when the game is on the line.  Collison could very well be that guy, but O'Brien keeps going with Ford in the fourth.

Next up, a rough one against the Denver Nuggets at home.

I had a feeling this might happen.

Optimistic Indiana fans just got a shock dose of reality today as the Pacers were thoroughly embarrassed by the 76ers in Philadelphia, 101-75.

The Pacers fell behind early in the first quarter and never recovered, finding themselves down by 15 points by the end of the first quarter and 26 points down by the half.  They made a short run in the third but the 76ers put them out early in the fourth.

This was an atrocious game on both ends of the floor for the Pacers.  If their shots simply didn't fall, then fair enough, but they looked completely lost out there, lacking in both focus and energy.  It allowed the 76ers to dominate and snap up their first win of the season.

As a team the Pacers shot 31.5% from the field, led by Danny Granger's 2-14 effort.  Hibbert was 4-12, Dunleavy 2-11, and Collison 4-16.  Collison actually led the team in scoring with 11 points, but there wasn't a player out there that played particularly well.

This is of course a huge wake up call for the now 2-2 Pacers.  It was a game that said a lot about both teams.

Philadelphia was 0-4 coming into this game, coming off a heartbreaking OT loss to the Wizards just the night before.  They would have been frustrated and exhausted, and it would have been the perfect opportunity for the Pacers to jump on them early.

On the other hand, the Pacers hadn't played since their home win against the 76ers on Saturday.  They would have been well rested and confident coming up against a team they had already beaten comfortably.

Well, the 76ers simply wanted it more right from the tip.  They hustled to loose balls, grabbed offensive rebounds, disrupted the flow of the Pacers' offense and made them take tough shots, most of which the Pacers missed.

Conversely, the Pacers were pathetic out there.  There was no energy, no emotion, no execution.  Danny Granger looked half asleep on offense, throwing up bad shots galore and not getting it done on the defensive end either.  Hibbert was handcuffed by a slew of 76ers defenders and Collison still hasn't got a handle on the offense.  Dunleavy just missed open shots and lapups.

Dahntay Jones played hard, as did Solomon Jones, but the latter Jones could not do a thing to stop Elton Brand in the low post.  Brand scored on him at will, ending up with 25 points and 12 rebounds, including 5 on the offensive end.

That's enough for now.  A very disappointing effort by the Pacers after a solid start to the season.  Next up is a home game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday.  A good chance for the team to bounce back before tough games against Denver and Houston.

 

Great win for the Indiana Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse against the Philadelphia 76ers tonight.  It's early, but with the 99-86 win the Pacers are now 2-1 for the season and out on top in the Central Division.

The Pacers have a bit of a break now as their next game is not until November 3rd, against the 76ers again, but this time in Philly.  No doubt the 76ers will try to return the favor at home, but I see it as a great opportunity for the Pacers to go up 3-1.

Here are some thoughts and observations from the game.

• Despite the scoreline the game was close for the first half, with Philly racing out to an early double digit lead.  The third quarter was huge for the Pacers as they outscored the opponent 27-15.

• Danny Granger top scored with 22 and was in fine form.  He didn't force his shot, which was great to see, and he knew when to rely on his teammates.

• Roy Hibbert had another off shooting night, going 5-13, but he was again an important factor, grabbing 13 boards and dishing out 5 assists.  He's coming along very nicely.

• Darren Collison is going to be a star in Indy very soon.  He's been playing surprisingly few minutes (25 last night) but he has been tearing it up and down the court.  He had one huge steal and breakaway slam that brought the house down.  If he can keep his turnovers down he should be playing at least 30 minutes a night, preferably 35.  TJ Ford has been holding his own but there's no comparison.  Collison is the future.

• I love watching Tyler Hansbrough and Josh McRoberts play.  Both are unpolished at either end of the floor, but their hustle, effort and aggressiveness cannot be understated.  The Pacers need players like them.

• Jeff Foster was put on the inactive list in the place of Dahntay Jones, but it didn't really make a difference as Jones didn't play anyway.

Go Pacers!