Indiana Pacers Slip and Fall in the Power Rankings
By Ben Gibson
The Indiana Paces are slipping and falling a little bit again in the power rankings, and Monday’s loss to the New York Knicks won’t help.
If you are ready to be sad, you’ve come to the right place. We’re talking about the Indiana Pacers.
S.S.D.D., but at least the Pacers are sitting at .500 right now with a 22-22 record. They struggle on the road and at home recently, so it is hard to put a good spin on things.
The loss to the New York Knicks was heartbreaking because it should have been a season-killer for the Knicks.
But perhaps we shouldn’t be in full panic-mode yet. Coach Nate McMillan is still working with the lineup to get the most out of the team, so let’s at least wait for some results from the current C.J. Miles experiment.
15. Indiana has played tangibly better at home, where they’re 16–5 with better offensive splits, particularly on the glass. Meanwhile, the Pacers are 6–16 on the road. While nobody feels great about them, their problems are correctable enough to offer second-half optimism. (Last Week: 12th) — <a href=. @Jeremy_Woo. Sports Illustrated. JEREMY WOO
14. The Pacers are a tidy 7-3 since Dec. 30, thanks mostly to Jeff Teague’s best stretch of the season and a much-needed offensive uptick after Indy had spent the first two months of the season parked in the league’s bottom 10 in offensive efficiency. The first two losses in that span, though, had to be particularly galling to first-year coach Nate McMillan, who this past week became only the fourth active coach with 500 regular-season victories but is surely wondering how Indy could A) surrender 140 points to Denver in London on Jan. 12 and then B) lose to the Lakers in L.A. on Friday night in the midst of such a positive spell when pretty much no one is losing to the Lakers. (Last week: 14) — <a href=. @ESPNSteinLine. ESPN. MARC STEIN
19. Since December 9th, they have three wins on the road, two of them coming against Detroit. If the Pacers can figure out a way to play the rest of the season at home, they will be locks for a playoff spot. The good news is their win-loss profile for head-to-head tiebreakers in the East is very good. (Last week: 13) — <a href=. @MattMooreCBS. CBS Sports. MATT MOORE
13. After winning in Sacramento with a big second half on Wednesday, the Pacers got back to their road woes, losing in L.A. and Utah over the weekend, with their old point guard (George Hill) thoroughly outplaying their new point guard (Jeff Teague) on Saturday. Though turnovers were a problem in both of those games, the bigger difference between the 16-5 Home Pacers and the 6-16 Road Pacers has been on the other end of the floor. They have the league’s fourth best home defense and the league’s third worst road defense. Home for 10 of their next 15 games and with a pretty weak schedule over the next couple of weeks, they have the opportunity to solidify their playoff position heading into the All-Star break. (Last week: 14) — <a href=. @johnschuhmann. NBA. JOHN SCHUHMANN
14. Here’s hoping Paul George is finding basketball fun again, because his Indiana Pacers went 2-0 after his incendiary comments about his team’s start to 2016-17.<br />Glenn Robinson III is doing his part in a starting role, Thaddeus Young is more than holding his own from three-point range and bench contributors like C.J. Miles and Aaron Brooks are starting to step up more consistently. Could the Pacers be ready to turn this thing around? (Last week: 13) — <a href=. @GeraldBourguet. Hoops Habit. GERALD BOURGUET
Next: Myles Turner Picked for Rising Stars Challenge
Maybe these next five games will show us something we don’t know.