It’s been a trying season for the Pacers before they even headed to training camp with the injury to Paul George on August 1. We’ve now reached the final stretch of the regular season, just 13 games to go before either the year is over or they’re competing in their fifth straight postseason.
Trouble is, they have to correct their play in a hurry. One week ago, things were looking up as they were seventh in the East and guys were relatively healthy.
Well, numerous guys got nicked up — Rodney Stuckey (calf strain), George Hill (back strain), Ian Mahinmi (head and shoulders), C.J. Miles (feet), C.J. Watson (sore right elbow) — over the last five games and they’ve been on the short end of each of those games.
What’s been most troubling about the stretch is their defense. That’s what coach Frank Vogel takes the most pride in, that’s an area he wants to be sound, and an area that’ll lead to more offense. The numbers are obviously down from the past two seasons, where Paul George checked the opponents’ best player. Still, they’re third in field goal percentage defense (43.2) and fewest points allowed (96.4).
However, all five opponents during their current skid have score 93 points on them, three tallying 103 or more.
“We’ve just given up a lot of points,” veteran David West said of latest showings. “We’re not clamping teams down. We’re just in a … I don’t know. We’re just not doing enough to disrupt what they want to do.
“That’s not how we play defense.”
And their loss on Saturday is going down in the media guide for the wrong reasons.
The Brooklyn Nets, who were playing on the second night of a back-to-back and did not land in Indy until after 3:00 a.m., scored 123 points, the most by any Indiana opponent this season, and fired a memorable 61.3 percent from the floor. That’s the highest shooting percentage the Pacers have ever allowed on their home floor.
The mediocre Nets had one of their best games of the season. They were having fun, getting various guys involved — seven in double figures, including four off the bench — and buried 71 percent (15-of-21) of their shots in the second period.
For the Pacers, all five opponents they lost to could perhaps make the playoffs — Toronto, Chicago, and Cleveland will for sure — but for their sake, they hope that’s not the case. But due to the string of losses, they are not in full control of their postseason participation.
They’re one of six teams fighting for the final three spots in the Eastern Conference. Some players admit they look at the standings, other say they ignore it (but they don’t). Last week, the optimist coach Vogel told the team he wants to see the teams around them win out, presumably to keep them up to the task and understanding that they must follow suit. Regardless, there’s no doubt the players are keeping a keen eye on the standings.
Before last week’s slide, they were as high as seventh and there was some hope they could push forward into sixth ahead of Milwaukee. But then came the struggles, in part due to facing higher caliber teams.
“I think we ran into some really hot offenses,” Vogel said on Saturday. “You got to credit our opponents. We haven’t been our sharpest but we have a lot of guys dinged up and fighting through little injuries. I’m proud of the effort and the fight that they’re putting forth.”
Yes, as noted above injuries have been an issue — but then why are they only coming up after games and not listed on the injury report?
What we’re seeing is units not being as effective as they were, not making opponents uncomfortable, and not stringing stops together. Starting point guard George Hill, who has the Pacers in the playoff conversation in the first place, first wants better communication and then for consecutive defensive stops to pile up.
So much of it, he says, comes down to executing the game plan — such as not being there on help side, not rotating, and not covering the blitz exchange right, for example. And don’t count on him using his back pain as an excuse. That’s just not who he is.
“We just haven’t been as tied together as we have been,” West said while standing at his locker in grey Pacers sweats. He wouldn’t go as far as to say they’re in a funk, but there hasn’t been a fight in them.
This week the Pacers host Houston (Monday), and then are on the road for a pair of road games at Washington and then Milwaukee on Wednesday and Thursday. All three are playoff teams but the Pacers need to come away with two of them. Excluding Monday’s home game, four of their next five contests are on the road, and then the schedule lightens up a bit next month with games against the Nets, Celtics, and Hornets.
… And, it’s highly likely that Paul George makes his season debut soon. A return for No. 13 is in sight, he just wants to get a few things shored up and improved before ripping off his breakaways to unveil his new jersey in game action for the first time.
[Larry Bird wants to see Paul George ‘do a little bit better’ before returning]
It is ‘Go Time’ for the Pacers, and it starts on the defensive end — start off games strong, protect the paint, and defend without fouling.
“One thing we have to focus on is what we can control,” Hill added, “and that’s this team, the locker room and try to win as many games as we can down the stretch.