After a steady climb into the top 5 over the past month, the Indiana Pacers take a tiny step back in the media’s power rankings.
The Indiana Pacers had jumped into the top 5 in last week’s roundup of power rankings, but losses to the Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers on the road either stopped their climb on set them back a spot or two.
Indiana holds an average ranking of 5.6 at the moment and averaged a drop of 1.3 spots this week.
The small drop is fair as the teams that have jumped the Pacers are all conference finals contenders. However with Indiana’s wins over both the Heat and the Bulls, one could argue they should still be ahead of them.
Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo highlights those two reasons for why the Pacers understandably slipped in the rankings and how Tuesday’s matchup against the Golden State Warriors will be a statement game for both squads, not the Golden State needs to make one.
"Indiana took a couple of lumps this week but remains in good shape, with its faster, smaller lineups having proven effective. After scoring a career-high 48 points against the Jazz, Paul George will lead the troops with a chance to end the Warriors’ vaunted winning streak."
ESPN’s Marc Stein points out how Paul George has risen back into the top 5 small forwards in the league. Coming back as the arguably the best two-way player in the league certainly helps put you in that discussion.
"LeBron James. Kevin Durant. Kawhi Leonard. Carmelo Anthony. And Paul George. In what order would you rank the game’s foremost fivesome of small forwards? The fact that George has so spectacularly soared right back into that upper class is a big reason why Tuesday night’s Warriors-Pacers date is going to be mega-hyped."
However, NBA.com’s John Schuhmann brings up the Pacers recent defensive woes against Western Conference teams.
"The Pacers’ defense has been generally terrific this season, but it fell apart,allowing 123 points per 100 possessions, in the final two games (at Portland and Utah) of a four-game trip out west. Indy has the league’s second best defensive vs. Eastern Conference opponents and the fourth worst against Western Conference opponents, with Stephen Curry and the league’s No. 1 offense coming to town on Tuesday."
Beating the Warriors won’t be an easy task, as in our last roundtable we all agreed everything will have to go right for the Pacers and the Warriors will need to make some of their own mistakes to help as well.
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The Pacers look to beat the streak on Tuesday and catapult themselves back into the top 5.