Don't get me wrong, Tyler Hansbrough had been a beast in the last three games while David West has been out with a back injury, but tonight's 87-84 loss against the Bulls shows why the Pacers still need their rock.

Hansbrough only had 7 points and 6 rebounds tonight, snapping his double-double streak at 3 games, and looked foolish at times on the defensive end against, yikes, Carlos Boozer and his newly replenished hairline.

Paul George had that look in his eye tonight like he was going to go nuts, and he did have 23 points and 11 rebounds, but he missed a couple of threes in the dying seconds that could have sent the game into overtime. That said, the Pacers didn't even deserve to be in that position because they wouldn't have been had George Hill not made a couple of huge three pointers (including a four-point play) when the game appeared to have been out of reach already.

Roy Hibbert had 18 and 12 because Joakim Noah was out, and Lance Stephenson had 10 (including a couple of nice coast-to-coasts) but was clobbered badly on a flagrant 2 by Nate Robinson on a fast break.

It's not going to be easy for the Pacers to hold on to the number 2 spot, or finish with 50 wins for the season. Taking a look at their remaining schedule, they still have matches left against Oklahoma City and the Clippers, plus games against Brooklyn, New York and Boston. The seedings might not be set until the final day of the regular season.

Next up, a must-win against the Hawks at home before the final extended West coast road trip of the season.

Easy stuff. After a close first half, the Pacers tightened the defense screws in the second, and coupled with another Larry Sanders meltdown/ejection, sped to a 102-78 victory, their 3rd in a row by 20 or more.

David West sat out again with a lower back problem and will be unlikely to return tomorrow night against the Chicago Bulls as the Pacers aim for a season sweep. Danny Granger is supposedly practising but won't return either.

But with the way Tyler Hansbrough has been playing (three double-doubles in a row and 22 and 12 tonight), the Pacers might not need those two guys. In the end, 6 players scored in double figures (Paul George gad 20, Roy Hibbert had 11 and 7 blocks, and three reserves -- Pendergraph, Mahinmi and Augustin each had 10), and they will need everyone to step up again against the Bulls.

The Pacers are still 1st in the league in rebounds ans 2nd in the league in points allowed, but they have improved from being one of the worst offensive teams in the league -- near-last in both points per game and assists -- to now be 21st and 26th, respectively.

PS: The Pacers seem to just really hate Mike Dunleavy, who was ejected for a flagrant 2 after swiping Gerald Green across the head on a follow through.

The have looked pretty sluggish as of late in their back-to-back losses against the Lakers and Philly, and things took a turn for the worst when David West was ruled out due to a lower back injury.

No West? No worries. The Pacers just racked up two consecutive blowout wins -- a 111-90 laugher against the Cavs in Cleveland followed by a 95-73 pounding of the Magic at home. Now the Pacers are 42-26 for the season and lead the Knicks by 1.5 games for the second seed in the East. Here's to hoping the Pacers can hold on, and that the Celtics will keep off  the Bulls for the sixth seed, and that Derrick Rose won't be back this season. That's a lot of hoping.

Indiana is arguably still playing kind of sluggish but were able to get two easy wins against struggling teams with nothing to play for, so perhaps that will boost their confidence for a crucial upcoming stretch against Milwaukee, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas and Phoenix -- to close out the month. Not going to be easy so going 0.500 during this stretch will be considered good enough for me.

On the bright side, David West's back is not regarded as serious and he should be back soon. Danny Granger has also been cleared to practice, though with just 14 games left in the season it looks like he won't even be 80% the player he was last season heading into the playoffs. Perhaps it will be a good thing to keep him to limited minutes off the bench.

Also promising is the play of Tyler Hansbrough, who started in place of West and had double-doubles of 18 and 11 and 14 and 14 in the last two games. Gerald Green also returned from a long exile on the end of the Pacers bench to put up 20 and 6 and 15 and 8 in the two games while shooting 50% from the field. Hopefully both of these guys will keep it up even when West, and eventually Granger, return.

Right now, though, it feels the Pacers are still missing something (perhaps a little swagger?). Frank Vogel needs to reach deep into his bag of tricks to make sure that these young guns are mentally ready come playoff time.

Depressing loss against a lottery team. The Pacers looked like they were the better team on paper and acted like they could turn it on at any minute to pull the game away. Unfortunately, that never happened.

Jrue Holiday and Spencer Hawes of all people just killed the Pacers, who unbelievably, still held a 1-point lead heading into the fourth. But the 76ers turned it on and the Pacers spluttered until it was too late. They hit a few big shots to pull a little closer but they never threatened after the half-way mark in the fourth, losing a dispirited 98-91 road game to drop to 40-26 for the season.

David West got into some awful foul trouble early in the game which swung things around. Paul George couldn't hit anything again. As coach Frank Vogel suggested, the team was hitting a wall and needed to grind through it heading towards the playoffs. They have a perfect opportunity to grab the 2nd seed with both hands as the Knicks are struggling with injuries, but instead the Pacers have continued to cough up their chances.

The 2nd seed is more important than it looks as the Pacers will want to avoid the Celtics, who are currently in 6th place. If the Pacers can lock up the second seed they will likely play the Hawks, who are not a walkover by any means but will be slightly less dangerous than a prideful Boston team on its last legs.

PS: Roy Hibbert started off well but missed a ton of shots late. He finished with 25 and 10, but shot just 9-26 from the field. On the whole, still a positive thing to see as the Pacers could really use his offense in the playoffs.

Losing to the Lakers without Kobe (well, 12 minutes of ineffective Kobe) and Pau Gasol -- at home, mind you -- has to equal the Pacers' worst loss of the season. Even worse than the Miami game a few nights ago.

When I heard Kobe was going to play, I actually thought it would be a good thing for the Pacers. Surely he would not be 100% and might try to do too much, which would play right into the Pacers' hands. Unfortunately, he played just 12 scoreless minutes and realized he couldn't go on, and sat out the rest of the game.

Rather than folding, however, the Lakers just caught fire from downtown and could not miss. Steve Blake and Antawn Jamison combined for 9-14 from the outside, and Metta World Peace outhustled and frustrated Paul George. Dwight Howard got the Pacers big guys in trouble early and often. Lance Stephenson contributed to a lot of wild, out of control plays, many of which turned into turnovers. Even though there were some questionable calls in favor of the Lakers, the Pacers absolutely deserved to lose this one. 

It was just horrible, and I worry the Pacers might be heading in the wrong direction at a key stretch of the season. Road games against Philly and Cleveland coming up, then home games against the Magic and Bucks. The Pacers need to win all four.