The Indiana Pacers are only three games behind the Toronto Raptors, but what are their chances to move into third place in the Eastern Conference?
Going into tonight’s game against the Brooklyn Nets, the Indiana Pacers stand four games over .500, the most at any point this season. While the spectre of mediocrity still looms over this team, it does appear that some of the early season struggles are taken care of — sorry, Monta Ellis.
The Nets are the worst team in the NBA (by record), so one can hope the Pacers can win but they lost to the Nets in the second game of the season before beating them by 10 points or more in the next two meetings.
If Indiana wins tonight, they won’t jump up from their sixth place spot in the standings, but they are putting themselves in position to. Before Friday night’s games, the Pacers are two games behind the Atlanta Hawks, 2.5 behind the Washington Wizards, and three behind the Toronto Raptors.
The Pacers aren’t very far out from third place in the Eastern Conference.
Is it too optimistic to look ahead considering the see-saw nature of the Pacers season? Probably, but it isn’t impossible for Indiana to climb up a few spots. It is at least worth looking at.
As mentioned above, Indiana should win tonight — YES I KNOW HOW THIS TEAM PLAYS AND THAT WE SHOULD FULLY EXPECT A LOSS TONIGHT — they’ll cut into those leads above them while all but the Raptors are idle.
But then things get harder.
The problem for the Pacers is the relative strength of their own schedule and the weakness of the rest of the East teams ranked third through fifth at the moment.
Indiana has eight games against teams now in the playoff picture in both conferences before the break.
The Pacers face the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Cleveland Cavaliers (twice), the Washington Wizards (twice), the San Antonio Spurs, the Memphis Grizzlies, and Houston Rockets before February 16th.
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That’s eight ‘playoff’ games out of their next out of their next 12. That is far from being an easy schedule. The three teams ahead of them have a combined 10 games against playoff teams, counting the Wizards vs Pacers games.
While moving up to the third spot might be out of reach for Indiana, who realistically should be happy to split their next 12 games. They have one of the toughest schedules remaining in the NBA.
But perhaps we are letting the first two months of the season overshadow things, much less, we aren’t accounting for Nate McMillan’s tweaks to the lineup.
Indiana is 10-4 in the New Year, with one of those losses coming across an ocean. They’ve had two four-game win streaks in 2017, and one of those was a five-game streak if we reach back into 2016. From January 1st on, Indiana is ranked 7th in net rating and 6th in offensive rating.
Putting Glenn Robinson III in the starting lineup helped the Pacers, but C.J. Miles made them even better.
The Pacers are ranked 9th in defensive rating since he became a starter, and more importantly than the rankings is the fact Miles helps the defense allow five fewer points compared to when Robinson started last month.
So perhaps Indiana can do better than a .500 record between now and the All-Star Break. It won’t be easy, but the team has played better since Christmas, and even better in the past few weeks.
Next: Indiana Pacers Move Up the Power Rankings
If the Pacers can knock off the Wizards in their two meeting before the All-Star Break they can close the gap between the teams ahead themselves. And depending on how those three teams do with their own schedule, Indiana might find itself a place or two higher before the NBA descends on New Orleans.