The Indiana Pacers are back in the thick of it after winning four of their last five games. They aren’t eating up cupcakes, either.
The Indiana Pacers are back in the playoff hunt after ripping off four wins in their last five games, improving their record to 8-10. While that fourth win against the Orlando Magic wasn’t considered in this week’s power rankings (they come out on Monday, typically), it’s just part of a larger trend.
These Pacers might be pretty good.
There are certainly reasons for skepticism: Victor Oladipo’s and Bojan Bogdanovic’s above average shooting, Indiana’s above average defense, and a few other players playing better than expected. But at the same time, we’ve only seen glimpses of what one might call “the real” Myles Turner, so maybe these Pacers aren’t even as good as they can be.
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Regardless of how good or bad this team ends up being, they remain entertaining as they’re offense remains one of the NBA’s best. They’ve punished opponents by being the best team at turning turnovers into points over the last week while also getting out into transition to keep defenses off balance. It also helps in the past week they’ve limited their opponents second-chance points and forced opponents to grind out points instead of giving them away.
They’re likely somewhere near the middle of the league, and that’s generally where the experts put them this week in their power rankings.
Both Kenny Ducey of Sports Illustrated and John Schuhmann of NBA.com bumped up Indiana 10 spots, while CBS Sports’ Chris Barnewall respectably bumped them up 8 total spots in his rankings.
The Pacers averaged a rank of 16.25 this week as they moved up 8 spots on average. It helps many teams in the Eastern Conference had so-so weeks, but the Pacers’ mix of pace, big nights from different players, and relentless shooting are why they’re hovering around the middle of the NBA power rankings this week.
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It won’t be easy to keep winning as the Pacers take on the Toronto Raptors on Friday and then the Boston Celtics on Saturday in a back-to-back. They’ll take Sunday off before facing the Orlando Magic again on Monday.