SI Puts Three Indiana Pacers Games in Their 50 Best this Season

Sports Illustrated has highlighted the three best Pacers games among its list of the top 50 game of the 2016-17 NBA season.

The NBA released schedules yesterday, and we’ve already picked out which ones Indiana Pacers fans should mark down on their calendar.

It is easy for Indiana fans to feel overlooked by the national media, but Sports Illustrated’s Ben Golliver highlighted the three best Pacers games in his top 50 fan should watch this year.

"18. Nov. 16: Cavaliers at PacersFew players get up for the challenges presented by LeBron James like Paul George. In terms of head-to-head matchups, James vs. George is as good as the East gets. The two All-Star forwards will face off four times during the regular season, but they won’t meet again until February."

"35. Jan. 12: Pacers at Nuggets in LondonThe NBA’s annual “Global Games” series will treat British fans to a first-hand glimpse of Indiana’s Paul George and Denver’s numerous international players, including Danilo Gallinari, Nikola Jokic, Jusuf Nurkic and 2016 lottery pick Jamal Murray. Come to think of it, Denver’s worldwide approach to talent acquisition makes it the perfect “Global Games” participant, even if the strategy has yet to pay major dividends stateside."

"49. March 20: Jazz at PacersAlthough it got swept under the rug by subsequent moves, the three-way deal that landed Jeff Teague in Indiana and George Hill in Utah has serious playoff implications for both the Jazz and Pacers. Hill won’t make his first and only trip back to Indiana until March, by which point the verdict on the trade should be in. Did Teague succeed in pumping up the Pacers’ offense? Did Hill’s arrival into a gaping positional hole propel the Jazz into the playoff picture? Remember, those two things aren’t mutually exclusive."

We obviously highlighted those in our post, but the ego of Pacers fans should feel a little better seeing them getting a little national love, and it is pretty obvious why those games that Golliver picked matter.

While it isn’t as exciting as the other two games he picked out, the Pacers and Nuggets meeting in London is an interesting wrinkle on the schedule.

Anytime the NBA plays overseas, that’s newsworthy.

The PG vs LBJ matchups are also some of the best Pacers games for all basketball fans, period.

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One of the best parts of the matchup isn’t just that they are two of the NBA’s best, but that the two have plenty of history over the past six seasons.

They’ve matched shots in the playoffs, PG’s hit shots over LeBron (and vice versa), and even though PG’s best moments have unfortunately come right before LeBron’s, you can’t deny the personal rivalry between the two.

Their rivalry matured in Miami, but it just moved north to Cleveland along with LeBron, something the NBA’s best player missed when PG was sidelined.

Golliver also had a good point about why the timing matters on George Hill’s return to Indiana on March 20.

If the Pacers struggle to spark their offense and regress defensively with Jeff Teague, then Hill gets the last laugh. Of course, if Utah is struggling and Indiana is doing just fine, Teague and Larry Bird get to enjoy the moment more.

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Both teams could be in good shape too, so both sides might feel smug that night.