The Indiana Pacers had their 5-game winning streak snapped against the LA Clippers with a 99-91 defeat at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

A lot of people will point to the fact that Roy Hibbert's suspension (for a pushing match with the Dubs' David Lee that spilled into the crowd) was the reason why the Pacers lost at home, where they are usually dominant, but the truth is, the Clippers are just too good right now. Chris Paul is just too good right now. Even with Hibbert, it would have been a tough matchup, but without him, the Pacers didn't really stand much of a chance, as Chris Paul dictated the pace (pun intended) on his way to 29 points and 8 assists.

David West, Paul George and George Hill all shot poorly, which did not help, but Granger looked pretty good in his third game back with 12 points on 5-10 shooting in 19 minutes off the bench.

I think this was a "good loss" for the Pacers in the sense that it gives them a reality check. Their recent play has had people talking them up as a huge threat to the Miami Heat, but the truth is they are probably only threat to the Heat in the East, which doesn't really mean a whole lot because LeBron and Miami are that much better than everyone else.

Still, if they can find a little more consistency, if Hibbert regains some of his offensive touch, and Danny Granger can get back to 80-90% by playoff time, you just never know.

The Pacers beat the Warriors 108-97 for their fifth consecutive win, but all ESPN could talk about was the tiny little fracas at the end that saw Roy Hibbert ejected. And multiple technicals handed out. In the aftermath, Hibbert and the Warrior's David Lee were each suspended one game, while Lance Stephenson, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were all fined.

What happened was this: Hibbert ran down the floor and banged into Lee while trying to get position down low. Nothing really wrong with it in such a physical game, but Lee didn't like it. So on the rebound, he delivered a two-handed shove to Roy's chest/neck area. If Roy just waited a second or two, Lee would have been assessed a foul and that would have been it. Instead, he retaliated with a strong shove to Lee's chest. Refs run in, should have been broken up with double technicals. But then Steph Curry runs in and tries to tackle Hibbert for some reason, and Hibbert just flings him to the ground like a ragged doll. Curry tries again, and same thing, and by this time all is out of control as they spill into the stands. 

Amazingly, none of the benches cleared. Coach Frank Vogel and his staff deserve a lot of credit for keeping everyone on the bench. The funniest thing is that David West got in there and cleared everyone out. He delivered a few shoves but no one dared to do anything back. He essentially broke up the whole fracas singlehandedly.

Some thought West might have also gotten a suspension because he looked pretty wild in there. But of course, no one wants to suspend a guy who sent a mascot to hospital with one playful punch through the mascot's helmet head.

So there you have it. The moral of the story is: never mess with David West. Oh, and he led the Pacers with 28 points on 12-16 shooting, by the way.

It wasn't long ago that I accepted that this Indiana Pacers team, without Danny Granger at least, was going to be a grind-it-out team that would rarely pull away from opponents. They were good defensively, but the near-league-bottom offense was always going to hold them back.

Before the All-Star break, the Pacers started putting together some solid offensive games, mostly at home. It got me wondering whether they might finally be able to combine that with their defensive mindset -- which had been slipping a bit to that point -- to turn it into real dominance.

Well, they have, at least for the last couple of games. The Pacers first blew out the New York Knicks -- with Carmelo and Shumpert -- 125-91, in a game that wasn't close after the first quarter, and then blew out the Detroit Pistons 114-82. That's two games in a row where they have beaten their opponent by at least 30 points and held them under 100 points. Actually, add the Charlotte Bobcats blowout 101-77 just before the break, and that makes it three in a row. Never thought I'd see something like this.

Players are getting their confidence back during this stretch. They appear to finally believe they are an elite team. Paul George is starting to believe he is a superstar. Lance Stephenson has turned into a beast on the break and in pushing the pace. DJ Augustin appears to finally be filling the role he was meant to fill after stinking up the joint at the start of the season. Second round pick Orlando Johnson has turned into a valuable role player and a deadly shooter (as evidenced by his 14 points last game). Jeff Pendergraph is showing more consistent brilliance. The only guy who has continued to play poorly is Gerald Green, though hopefully all these garbage minutes he has been playing as of late can help him shoot his way out of a long slump. And did I mention that Roy Hibbert has looked less depressing? He's hasn't turned the  corner yet, but he might be getting close.

It isn't just having the offense click, either. The Pacers vaunted defense has showed signs of returning to full strength. The team is also more focused and jumping out to strong leads and not relenting as opponents try to come back, repelling wave after wave of attacks. This is starting to look like a mentally resilient team that believes it can do serious damage come playoff time.

Most of all, this is all happening without Danny Granger, who continues to sit out as he gets ready to return from a knee injury. According to Mike Wells from the Indy Star, Granger is set to return tonight against the Pistons in Detroit.

The Indiana Pacers participated in three events at the 2013 All-Star Weekend in Houston.

First of all, Paul George proved why he was a lognshot to win the 3-point comp with a contest-low 10 points out of a possible 30, including a rare air ball. Not to say George isn't a killer shooter, but it's not his type of competition. Kyrie Irving won, by the way, which was unexpected, at least for me.

Secondly, Gerald Green bombed out of the dunk comp after trying a dunk that was too difficult, even for the former champ. Following a perfect 50 from a double pump reverse alley-oop off the side of the backboard (courtesy of a Lance Stephenson pass), Green tried to dunk the ball with his right hand, catch it immediately under the rim with his left, and stuffing it through again, all in one motion. It proved too difficult, and Green ran out of time, finishing with just a 32. Of course, he completed the dunk on the first try immediately after that. If he had made it through to the final, Green would have attempted a double alley-oop windmill with the assistance of Lance Stephenson and Paul George.

In all, it was a lackluster dunk comp. There were some good dunks (Green's first and a few from winner Terrence Ross and runner up Jeremy Evans) but still too many misses. The main problem, apart from the lack of star power, is that we have seen too many dunks over the years and something really special is needed to impress us. But the higher the difficulty, the less chance of completing the dunk, which is why there are so many misses these days.

Last but not least it was Paul George in the main event, the All-Star Game. After a slow start, George finished with a Pacers NBA record 17 points to lead all reserves. The East would lose 143-138, but George kept them close at the end with back-to-back threes.

Overall, it was an OK All-Star break for the Pacers. Hopefully Paul George will take his game to the next level after seeing that he can compete with the best of the best. Next up, a huge game against the Knicks. Danny Granger still won't play, but he's close.