The Indiana Pacers had a winning week in week 9! Let me say that again – the Indiana Pacers had a winning week in week 9! It’s so lovely to write that.
The Pacers went 3-1 last week; they narrowly held on to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 100-96 in Minnesota, beat the New Orleans Pelicans 96-84 in a Roy Hibbert block party at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, forgot that defense was a part of the game in a 119-109 loss in Detroit against the Pistons, and laid a second-half beatdown on the Brooklyn Nets in a 110-85 win in Brooklyn, on the second night of a back to back no less.
Multiple players were in and out of the lineup and rotation, and there was plenty to take away from these games.
Big Roy!!!
Please excuse me, I have to pull my foot out of my mouth … there we go.
Roy Hibbert averaged 13.5 ppg, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks while shooting over 51% from the field. He had 7 blocks against the New Orleans Pelicans. He was routinely not the slowest person on the floor against the Nets (making Brook Lopez look like he might be the slowest player in the NBA). The rebounding is slightly low, but otherwise, that is a fantastic week.
At this point, it is incredibly difficult to predict Hibbert and answer to the why of his bad weeks. Is he just a streaky player now? Was he recovering from his ankle injury? Is it matchup based?
I’m banking on a combination of all 3; his ankle is feeling better, he feasted on some poor defensive centers, and maybe he was feeling great this week. Either way, we’ll take more weeks like this from the big fella.
The Hometown Hero is Back
George Hill made his season debut against the New Orleans Pelicans off the bench, and came off the bench again against the Detroit Pistons before resuming his role in the starting lineup against the Brooklyn Nets.
Hill averaged 24 minutes in his first week back, putting up 13.3 ppg, and finishing +11 overall for the week. He shot 46.7% from behind the arc, and threw down a NASTY dunk on Mason Plumlee in the Nets game.
Welcome back, Hometown Hero.
The Offense Is Alive
The Indiana Pacers shot 50% or higher in four straight games. Actually, clarification: the 2014-2015 Indiana Pacers shot 50% or higher in four straight games. They shot 47% from behind the arc in the last two games of the week. They averaged almost 27 assists per contest. They only averaged 12.5 turnovers per game.
This type of offense is not likely to continue for the blue and gold, but is most certainly a welcome sight.
The Indiana Pacers are Still Struggling from the Line
The Pacers shot 72.2% from the charity stripe for the week, and are down to 73.2% for the season, down from 78% last season. They are costing themselves points each and every game.
Four Pacers regulars are below 70% for the season – Luis Scola (67.6%), David West (66.7%), Damo Rudez (66.7%), and Ian Mahinmi (31%!!!!!!!!). Only two Pacers are shooting 80% or above – C.J. Watson at 80%, and Roy Hibbert at 80.9%.
It’s got to get better; this team is going to need every point they can scrape together to get into the playoffs.
Balance Will be Key for the Indiana Pacers to Win
The Pacers played 4 games last week, and had 4 different leading scorers (C.J. Miles, George Hill, Roy Hibbert, and Rodney Stuckey). There’s no Paul George or Lance Stephenson to shoot this team to victory night in and night out – it’s going to take a group effort throughout the season, and the Pacers are beginning to deliver the type of balanced scoring necessary.
The Indiana Pacers Week Ahead
Games: vs Chicago (Monday), vs Miami (Wednesday), at Milwaukee (Friday)
Prediction: Pacers go 2-1, losing to Chicago but beating Miami and Milwaukee
Last Week’s Prediction Results: 1-3
Season Long Prediction Results: 15-13
What to Watch For: George Hill, playing professional basketball again… a test of the recently improved defense against the new look Chicago Bulls, who are making teams look bad when they have the ball and are 9-1 in their last 10 games… the return of Danny Granger, suddenly playing real minutes for the Chris Bosh-less Miami Heat… fighting the jumble of long arms that represent the Milwaukee Bucks… David West and George Hill screen and rolls, coming back… C.J. Miles, returning from illness and looking to continue his hot streak… Frank Vogel, finally getting to work out his starting lineup and rotation… Chris Copeland, making the most of his brief return to the rotation… The players all trying to avoid the “upper respiratory infection” that has started its way around the lockerroom… Lavoy Allen, tipping in everything within arm’s reach and stealing 4th quarter minutes from Roy on occasion… Luis Scola, making savvy veteran plays on both ends of the ball… Scola and West trying to guard completely different players in Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic… The Pacers, not getting flustered when teams deploy a zone defense look(!!)…