History nearly repeats itself in Pacers narrow victory over Kings

The Bad

It feels like deja vu… the 4th quarter. As I sat and watched the game, it felt like the Lakers game all over again from the previous night, especially after this thundering dunk by Trey Lyles.

Here we go again… Pacers lead… Pacers blow the lead… Somehow the Pacers lose the game… Well, the game clock ended just soon enough, allowing the Pacers to squeak out the victory. The team is still young, but they need to find a way to keep leads in the 4th quarter. Some of this is just growing pains and that will serve the team well over the rest of this season and beyond. It is frustrating to watch at times, but the team will turn the corner at some point.

The Pacers could also benefit from getting to the free throw line more often. Today, the team was 10 of 14 from the charity stripe. I think the team in general settles for a lot of jump shots, which explains the lower free throw attempts each game, but the Kings only attempted 20 free throws. This is a small enough disparity that can be overcome, but that will not be the case in many contests. How can the Pacers get to the line more? Hard to know because the team is set up for the drive and kick three pointer. Every once in awhile, though, you have to play through the contact and get to the rim. This young team will continue to improve on that.