The Pacers were rather loose in the locker room Sunday afternoon awaiting their 6:00 p.m. tip time. The opponents’ last game was on both of the televisions at the front of the room, which is typical, but guys were chatty while keeping an eye on their phones.
It wasn’t because they expected an important email or were exchanging text messages. It was to stay updated on two key afternoon games: Brooklyn at Milwaukee and Cleveland at Boston.
Life is such now for the Pacers, who are currently on the outside looking into the postseason. Brooklyn’s loss combined with the Pacers’ 116-104 critical home win over the Oklahoma City Thunder has those two teams neck-and-neck for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. Because the Nets have the season tiebreaker, the Pacers must win out, and hope the Nets drop one of their final two games.
The message from Pacers coach Frank Vogel was staying in the fight, and that they have with a big home win Sunday night. They are now 8-1 on Sunday games but there’s no truth to the rumor that they’ll push the league to play only on Sunday.
Both the Pacers (37-43) and Thunder (43-37) said going in that it was going to feel like a playoff game and it lived up to the hype in a duel between two 9-seeds in their respective conferences.
[Chris Copeland returns to Indianapolis Sunday, five days after stabbing]
Indiana earned the victory Monday with a team effort, while Oklahoma City leaned heavily on NBA MVP-candidate Russell Westbrook. Westbrook tallied a career-high 54 points, which was also the highest total by an individual opponent at the Fieldhouse. He fired up 43 shots and connected on 21 of them, both franchise highs, and afterwards said he “don’t really give a damn,” how many shots he fired because he competes harder than anyone every night.
“We didn’t really mind that he was the only guy going,” said Pacers head man Frank Vogel. “He scored 29 in the first half and we were winning. If he’s going to take 43 shots, he’s going to score a lot of points and nobody else on the court will get into rhythm.”
Westbrook scored 22 in the first period alone, but his Thunder hit intermission down by five, 56-51.
Paul George dunked for the first time this season late in the first quarter, and then provided another spark late by banking in a 3-pointer from the top of arc to beat the buzzer. That gave Indiana a six-point lead entering the fourth stanza.
It was just a one-possession game with two minutes left after the Thunder answered a 12-0 run by the Pacers with a 11-2 spurt of their own.
Pacers should be credited for their defense at the foul line. You’d think their 13 missed free throws would be costly under you looked at the visitor’s line: 11-of-28 (39 percent).
As Westbrook grabs headlines and highlights — also because he received his league-high 16th technical foul of the season which, if not rescinded, will result in a one-game suspension — the Pacers shot 53 percent, had four players reach double figures, and wing C.J. Miles providing the dagger.
Miles, who the Pacers signed to a four-year deal over the summer, matched his season-high with 30 points and also recorded his second career double-double with 10 rebounds.
The 10-year vet has been special this season, when healthy. He’s had a laundry list of issues which has included calf strains, migraines, and flat feet. Being healthy once against has allowed him to get in a comfort zone, find a rhythm, and hit key buckets when called upon.
“Him being in the lineup and playing consecutive games without being sidelined has helped his confidence and helped down the stretch,” said Paul George, who had eight points and six rebounds in 14 minutes. “He’s been better and better for us each game.”
Early in the year, as the team was littered with injuries, Miles felt that he was standing around too much with the goal to space the floor. Now he’s knocking down open shots, getting to the foul line and attacking. 30 points on 9-of-14 shooting is the latest example.
Miles provided the dagger when he connected on his sixth trey ball to put the Pacers up by seven with less than 49 seconds to play.
“It’s the stuff you do in your backyard, man,” he said. “… If you look out there, you can see a smile on my face all the time because I enjoy it. I enjoy the game, period.”
During this roller coaster of a season, where players have missed a combined 215 games due to injury, Miles spoke candidly about what it would mean for them to qualify for the playoffs.
“Just be another page to the story,” said Miles, who hasn’t competed in postseason action since 2012 while in Utah. “A story of our season, finding a way to stay alive; finding a way to climb out of holes; finding a way to just hold on. If we get there, we’ll be a real scary team to play.
“We saw the bottom already. There’s only one place to go.”
Indiana has now won five straight games, but they need to end the year with seven in a row. Their 2014-15 season could last just two more games — or it could go a couple of weeks.
The schedules the rest of the way look like this:
For the Pacers, they conclude the season with a back-to-back — Tuesday against Washington and then Wednesday in Memphis. The Nets play for the second night in a row on Monday with a home game against the Chicago Bulls. Yes, Pacers fans will be Bulls fans; at least on Monday. The Nets’ regular-season finale is also Wednesday, at home against a weak Orlando squad.
“We just have to take care of our business,” said veteran leader David West. “The only thing we can control is the games on our schedule so in our locker room, we’re going to keep doing that.”
Notes:
- C.J. Watson missed his fourth straight game due to a sore right elbow.
- The Pacers improved to 10-2 this season when shooting at least 50 percent from the floor.
- Roy Hibbert recorded his third double-double in a row, finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
- Bankers Life Fieldhouse was sold-out of the 13th Pacers game this season.
- Rookie Shayne Whittington was not with the team. He spent the last five days with their D-League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, to get more practice and game reps in.