Inconsistency Erodes the Indiana Pacers’ Place in Power Rankings
By Ben Gibson
The Indiana Pacers keep making changes, but they remain one of the most inconsistent and frustrating teams in the NBA.
The Indiana Pacers still don’t know who they are and what they are doing.
A comeback win against the Portland Trail Blazers and then taking care of business against the Charlotte Hornets had Indiana’s fan hoping they finally turned the corner.
Then they lost the the Miami Heat while scoring only 10 points in the fourth quarter.
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Moving Glenn Robinson III into the starting lineup is likely the best move for the Pacers in the short and long term, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be games like the one in Miami where the Pacers revert back the version we saw play the Golden State Warriors.
The loss to Miami isn’t factored into this week’s rankings, but the Pacers’ ability to play down to their opponents is something that has happened all season.
This Pacers team is maddening, frustrating, inconsistent, and seeing on a 13-13 record. This Indiana team still has issues to sort through. Perhaps that makes it fitting that the Pacers average power ranking is right about the middle of the road at 16th place this week.
The schedule gets easier going forward, but as long as the Pacers lose games to teams at the bottom of the NBA, it is hard to see them as more than just an average team.
JEREMY WOO. 17. The happy Pacers storyline amidst a rough start to the season has been the growth of Myles Turner, <a href=. @Jeremy_Woo. Sports Illustrated
@ESPNSteinLine. ESPN. MARC STEIN. 14. As flat as the Pacers looked during the game and as down as they looked after it on Friday night in Dallas, I certainly wasn’t expecting what we saw the next night against Portland, when Indiana rallied from 20 points down back on their home floor — not even when you factor in the Blazers’ well-chronicled defensive frailties. Paul George scored 15 points in one stretch of the fourth quarter en route to a decisive game-high 37, but few teams at this juncture are as tough to read as the Pacers, who swept their season series with the Clippers and posted another nice win in Oklahoma City to offset all the nights you think something is really wrong behind the scenes. (Last week: 12) — <a href=
18. The Pacers are so haywire you tend to forget that, good grief, Paul George is stellar. In the last five games he’s averaging 24 points per game and shooting 44 percent from the arc. He drove the stake into the Blazers Saturday. (Last week: 20) — <a href=. @MattMooreCBS. CBS Sports. MATT MOORE
@johnschuhmann. NBA. JOHN SCHUHMANN. 15. The Pacers had bench issues earlier in the season, but their starting lineup was a minus-43 in four games last week, allowing 126 points per 100 possessions. Paul George saved Saturday’s game against Portland with a personal 13-4 run down the stretch and is now shooting 59 percent in the clutch, the second best mark among players with at least 20 attempts. He had shot a brutal 17 percent on shots in the last minute with the game within three over the last five seasons, but is 2-for-5 on those shots this season after following up his own miss with a big dunk on Saturday. (Last week: 13) — <a href=
HoopsHabit. GERALD BOURGUET. 16. In their two matchups with the Golden State Warriors this year, the Indiana Pacers lost by a combined 73 points, which is nearly how many points Monta Ellis and company surrendered to Klay Thompson during his 60-point detonation to start out the week.<br />It turns out that a healthy Paul George has not been enough to turn the tide for this team, and much like the Blazers in the West, the Pacers’ theoretically fun offense has been overshadowed by a lackluster defense and a very underwhelming record. (Last week: 12) — <a href=. @GeraldBourguet
Next: Don’t Blame Monta Ellis For Larry Bird’s Mistakes
The Pacers fell to the Miami Heat last night, face the New Orleans Pelicans today, the Detroit Pistons on Saturday, and then the Washington Wizards on Monday.