Recapping the Pacers Week

A week that started with a losing streak that reached five games finally ends with a win at home against New Jersey.  The Pacers had a rough ride there, but turned it around, and can get going back in this right direction.

Looking over the week, it was a tough one.  Starting on Tuesday back at home against the Miami Heat, everyone knew that would be a hard game for the Pacers to find their mark, but no one could have envisioned that it would get so ugly so early.  The Heat were over sixty points by half.  At one point, it looked like that team would easily score over one hundred points in the third quarter.  Even though the Pacers tried to make it look close by the final score of 105-91, this game was never in doubt.  The Heat proved they’re a top team in the East, and took care of business early.  That’s what this Pacers team needs to do.

But unfortunately, when the time came to take care of business against a Cavs team that only won ten games, the Pacers couldn’t get the job done.  Once again, the Cavs were around sixty points by half and got up twenty one points during the game.  The Pacers got the game down to single digits, but never any closer than about eight or nine.  Kyrie Irving showed why he was a number one pick, and lead the Cavs all the way in this game.

Finally, back at home, the Pacers did what was expected and that was take care of the Nets.  Even down eleven early in the game, the Pacers had a run in them, and got the lead later in the game to seal the deal.  Danny Granger, back from an ankle sprain, lead the team in scoring with thirty two points.  But an all around team effort got this win, and ended the losing streak.

Every team goes through these small funks, and it’s how you respond that determines what kind of team you are.  With this Pacers team, we know how young they are, so the response to a losing streak is to get frustrated and not put out the effort that’s needed in the game.  In that five game losing streak, the Pacers looked very disinterested and not confident about who they are.

But the Nets game should be a spark.  That could be something to build momentum towards this All-Star Break.  Maybe Paul George and Roy Hibbert being a part of that break will help as well.  But it all starts tonight back at home with a game against the Bobcats, a team that’s only won four games.

Start a winning streak now, and get this team running in the winning direction.  Get that confidence back up and get the energy that fans want to see.  The Blue and Gold Menace is on the attack tonight.