An ode to streaking; Indiana Pacers style
This article is about streaking. Two cases of streaking to be specific, involving the Pacers and Spurs. Depending on your definition of “streaking” you’ll either find this article rather interesting or your piqued interest unsatisfied. I’ll let you be the judge.
A few nights back, in Tinseltown, a venerable streak ended. It didn’t involve the Pacers, at least not directly, but its conclusion reminded me of a streak that the Pacers possess. That aforementioned streak was held by the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs had won at least 50 games each season since the lockout-shortened 1998-99. It lasted 18 seasons and ended with a three-point loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
I don’t love the Spurs, but I do like them. I loved watching Tim Duncan play, I appreciate the brilliance of Gregg Popovich and I respect their longevity. I’ve seen them play both in Indianapolis and in San Antonio. I’m not going to lie, I was a wee bit sad to see an impressive streak like that end.
Being good annually can be tough enough. Spursian runs of dominance are the rarest. Its conclusion reminded me of a different team-oriented ironman streak, one that is still one going. A streak involving the Indiana Pacers.
It was a mid-April evening in Market Square Arena back in 1989. A struggling Pacers team, aimed for the lottery (where they would select George McCloud) fell to the Atlanta Hawks 121-114. It was Atlanta’s 50th win that year. Dominique Wilkins had 39 for Hawks, Moses Malone added 18 more and 13 rebounds. Their starting point guard was Doc Rivers. The Pacers got a combined 64 from Vern Fleming, Chuck Person and a sophomore guard from UCLA named Reggie Miller. It was Indiana’s 21st, and final, home loss of the year. And it was the last time the Pacers finished a season with a losing record at home.
For 29 seasons and counting, Indiana has defended home court to the tune of 788 wins, a win 67.7% of the time. 23 of those seasons finished in the playoffs (79%). This is rarified air, only four other NBA teams have over 25 seasons with a winning record at home over that stretch (San Antonio has 28, Houston and Utah have 27, then Portland with 26). Among that group, only the Spurs have been to the playoffs more than the Pacers.
This all got me thinking about what streaks mean. A run that the Pacers have would likely be scoffed at by the Tanking/Sam Hinkie groupies out there. “Whooptie-dee,” they might exhale, “look at all those championships those wins didn’t bring you. That’s why you should always bottoming out is better than long-term perseverance.” Or something like that.
Maybe it’s old-fashioned, maybe, but I don’t think so, it should be admirable what the Pacers have done. 29 years. Think about that: twenty-nine years. That’s longer than I’ve been alive, it’s longer than a lot of you have been alive.
Over a generation of Pacer fans have entered either Market Square Arena or Bankers Life Fieldhouse to see their Pacers play. And consistently for almost three full decades, the multitudes have left satisfied. Unless you’re my buddy Elijah who’s 0-5 this season, and no longer allowed to go to games. Unlucky friends aside, that’s impressive.
The Golden State game on Thursday should be a case in point. Because the Pacers kept on keeping on, a wondrous evening at the Fieldhouse (unless you’d hitched your cart to the Warriors bandwagon) happened. The roar of the crowd when Bojan Bogdanovic buried three after three was infectious. The delight when Trevor Booker hit the deck to slap a loose ball to Victor Oladipo who outran the entire Warrior team to thunder home a dunk loosed another roar was goose-bump worthy.
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It was the type of game that uncorked that (maybe dusty) bottle of joy inside the souls of Pacer fans that reminds us why we love basketball: because it’s so much fun. Like in 1995, when Derrick McKey looked and looked and flipped it to the Big Fella who shot and hit, he HIT! Or when Reggie “mildly nudged” Michael Jordan then proceeded to blast a decisive three and immediately transform into a merry-go-round being quickly twirled by Superman. Whatever the moment, you’ve got one. Every Pacer fan does. For almost three decades, the Pacers have been putting themselves and )more importantly) their fans in a position to experience those moments. And hopefully, they will keep doing so for many more years to come.