The Indiana Pacers are on a four-game losing skid and Paul George isn’t happy about the way they are closing out games.
Paul George isn’t happy with the Indiana Pacers right now.
More specifically, he isn’t happy with how they close out games.
The Indianapolis Stars’ Jordan J. Wilson quoted George’s frustration in his preview for tonight’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"With 55 games in the books, the Pacers (29-26) are teetering on a potential six-game losing streak heading into the All-Star break and look no closer to proving they can be a team that stands a chance to advance in the playoffs.“We see what works for us and then we go away from it,” George said. “It’s very frustrating, especially losing to Eastern (Conference) teams, where these games are going to come down to late March, early April, where we’re playing desperate basketball trying to make playoffs. These are the games, and really divisional and conference games, that we’ve got to pick up and we’re struggling to do so.”"
The numbers back this up, as in the two games that qualified for “clutch” time out of the four losses, Indiana is only shooting 26.3% from the field. In the other two games, Indiana was simply too far behind to qualify for that stat.
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It is understandable that George is vexed by this considering he has been one of the NBA’s most clutch players this season. However, he too has struggled in this stretch, going 1 of 5 from the field and 0 of 2 from deep. Besides, even though he carries the team at times, any team is better when they play team basketball.
This season, Indiana played well in close games, going 18-11 according to NBA.com. Maybe they were getting lucky as they have not been efficient on those minutes despite winning most of those games. Maybe this is just ‘luck’ running out on them.
But before we panic, let’s remember that Thaddeus Young missed the last six games with a sprained wrist, slowing the Pacers momentum they had built during a seven-game winning streak.
It is easy to forget that just a few games ago Nate McMillan was happy with the way the Indiana Pacers were locking in on defense, and Myles Turner said they were on the same page defensively.
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Perhaps once Young returns to the lineup, some of these issues will be washed away. But with the Cavaliers and Washington Wizards on the schedule before the All-Star break, it won’t be easy to just ride out the storm.