Indiana Pacers Top 5 Team in the Power Rankings

Another week of basketball is in the books and once again the Indiana Pacers climbed a few more spots, making their way into the top 5 of some of the media’s power rankings.

The Indiana Pacers going 11-2 in the month of November has gotten the attention of the NBA as the Pacers are now one of the league’s top teams through just over a month of basketball.

It is still early in the season, but so far the Pacers have been exceeding expectations.

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NBA.com’s John Shuhmann is very impressed by what the Pacers have done, but points out December won’t be as easy on Indiana.

"The Pacers have won five straight, avenging their last loss (against the Bulls) along the way. Paul George (40, 33 and 39 points last week) continues to put up big numbers, C.J. Miles hit eight threes in Washington on Tuesday, and now Monta Ellis is starting to get going. They’re on the brink of ranking in the top 10 on both ends of the floor, but a tough stretch looms. Eight of their next 11 opponents are over .500."

CBS.com Matt Moore had praise for Frank Vogel as the Pacers have done more than be average offensively this season.

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The Pacers have an adjusted field-goal percentage (which factors 3-pointers) of 55 percent on plays off the screen (curls, etc.). Most of those are 3s. They are creating such great looks on offense every play. I didn’t know if Frank Vogel could design an efficient offense. Instead he’s created a flame-throwing fleet of dune buggies.

The Sagarin Rankings may be cold and mechanical at times, but they also help sort out the noise and hype from the fact. The Pacers have had a middle of the 17th toughest schedule but when you look at the predictions Sagarin puts out, they are expected to remain in the top 10.

I didn’t know if Frank Vogel could design an efficient offense. Instead he’s created a flame-throwing fleet of dune buggies. — Matt Moore

They have a 4-5 record against the top 16 teams in the league, but I think it is fair to point out 3 of those losses were before Indiana sorted themselves out, and two were very close. In fact if you use the system’s math to predict the results if those teams played again, the Pacers would be expected to sweep the three at home while going 1-2 on the road against those teams.

This month’s schedule will much more difficult for the Indiana Pacers, but as long as they keep playing above .500 basketball they will remain in the top 10.