Indiana Pacers Fall Back in the Power Rankings
By Ben Gibson
After finally clawing their way back into the top 10 of the power rankings last week, the Indiana Pacers have already fallen back out.
Things were looking up for the Indiana Pacers last week. A victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder — on the road no less — gave the impression that these Indiana Pacers weren’t going to be the same ones we saw before the All-Star Break.
But with the exception of the Indiana Pacers win over the New York Knicks, it has been a rough week for the Pacers. Another overtime loss to the Miami Heat, struggling against the Charlotte Hornets, and coming up short on Monday against the Cleveland Cavaliers is giving the impression this team is no different than the one we’ve seen since December.
There have been a few good signs, though. The Pacers are turning the ball over less after the All-Star Break, cutting down the 15.8 turnovers a game to 13, which puts them 10th in the NBA during that period.
However, the game is more than just turnovers. Before All-Star Weekend, Indiana was 9th in the league in net rating at 2.4, but since then they’ve dropped to -0.3, 18th in the NBA.
All this adds up to the Pacers dropping to an average rank of 11.7, dropping an average of 3.2 spots.
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Hoops Habit’s Gerald Bourguet is saying what every Indiana Pacers fan is thinking: This team might miss the playoffs.
"The caution lights are on for the Indiana Pacers, whose current three-game skid has dropped them to eighth in the Eastern Conference standings. They’re tied with the Pistons at 31-29, and with five of their next six games coming on the road (and the one home game being against the Spurs), it won’t get any easier.All three games this week were narrow defeats and Myles Turner‘s emergence has been a joy to watch, but if Paul George can’t rediscover his perimeter stroke — especially from three-point range — the Pacers could be on the brink of sliding out of the playoff picture."
NBA.com’s John Schuhmann noticed a small change in how Paul George has been playing, but whether that’s contributing to Indiana’s losses is yet to be seen.
"Rodney Stuckey’s return hasn’t provided a boost to the Pacers’ offense, which has more bad games (including costly losses to Miami and Charlotte last week) than good ones. The game-winner that Paul George missed against the Hornets was representative of his move inside the 3-point line for more of his shots over the last 17 games, when his mid-range FGA to 3PA ratio has been 1.1, up from 0.8 prior to that."
No matter where PG shoots from, CBS Sports’ Matt Moore believes he’ll have to put the Pacers on his back if Indiana is going to make the playoffs.
"Considering their woeful offense (27th in points per 100 possessions), it’s going to come down to whether or not Paul George can carry them to the playoffs and through whatever series they find themselves in."
Next: 8p9s AMA Mailbag: Remembering When the Pacers Won Close Games
Indiana continues a road trip that began in Cleveland this week as they meet the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, then head south to face the Charlotte Hornets on Friday. They’ll follow that game with a trip to the nation’s capital to play the Washington Wizards on Saturday before returning home on Monday to host the San Antonio Spurs.