| Mark Your Calendars Authored by Andrew Perna - September 19, 2008 - 11:59 am
| Current Featured Columns | | Merry Christmas, Raptors Fans The Raptors might not be playing good basketball right now, but there are plenty of things for Toronto fans to be thankful for this holiday season.
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They insist that he won’t be in training camp at the end of the month, which means it’s too early to preview Indiana’s season using my annual month-by-month breakdowns. Last October I projected 38 wins for the Pacers, and they finished with 36 – not too shabby.
Make sure you stay tuned for a prediction piece once Larry Bird and David Morway make their final moves, assuming there is at least one deal on the horizon.
We may not know exactly who will be on the court when the season tips off for the Pacers on Oct. 29 against the Pistons, but we have a good idea of what the most interesting matchups will be.
Oct. 29 – @ Detroit
This game is a big one for obvious reasons. No, not because it’s Pacers-Pistons, that ship has sailed, but it signals the official beginning of a new era in Indiana. For the first time since the beginning of the millennium, Jermaine O’Neal won’t be in the lineup, or in street clothes on the bench.
Sat, Nov. 1 – vs. Boston
This game isn’t going to be a close one, but it will be the home opener. Let’s hope Indiana’s ‘Restore the Pride’ campaign was a successful one, and more than 12,000 people are in the stands to see the champs come to town.
Tue, Nov. 18 – vs. Atlanta
The Hawks beat out the Pacers for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference by a single game last spring, which proves that even early November battles can hold weight. Assuming Atlanta doesn’t regress, Indiana will have to improve significantly this season to top them in the standings.
Tue, Nov. 25 – @ Dallas
Prior to Thanksgiving the Pacers will travel to Dallas and take on Rick Carlisle’s Mavericks for the first time since he was named coach this offseason. They should know what to expect, but then again Carlisle never had a point guard like Jason Kidd in Indiana.
Tue, Dec. 2 – vs. L.A. Lakers
Kobe Bryant, last season’s MVP, comes to town for the only time this season. I smell the largest crowd of the year at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Wed, Dec. 10 – @ Toronto
This game should be on national television, if the NBA didn’t despite the Pacers (you can’t blame them, ratings = money). Indiana will head north to Toronto as Raptors fans get a look at T.J. Ford in blue-and-gold and we’ll see O’Neal alongside Chris Bosh for the first time in person.
Wed, Dec. 17 – vs. Golden State
The Warriors, or as I like to call them: the West-Coast Pacers, come to town. Stephen Jackson will probably get a cool reception, while Al Harrington receives a standing ovation for his ‘Baby Al’ looks. At one point Austin Croshere and Sarunas Jasikevicius would have made the trip as well, but Chris Mullin has minimized the Pacer flair on his roster – good move.
Sun, Dec. 28 – vs. New Orleans
The Hornets, a candidate to come out of the West this season, make their lone trip to Indiana. Chris Paul is the kind of player the Pacers are always left dreaming about, but here’s to hoping that T.J. becomes a poor-man’s CP3 this season.
Fri, Jan. 2 – @ New York
'You Know Who' may not be killing the Knicks anymore, but Mike Dunleavy Jr. has had a few impressive performances at Madison Square Garden since he arrived in Indiana. The Pacers will take any victory they can get, but they’ll take 36 points from MDJ as well.
Fri, Jan. 16 – vs. Toronto
Jermaine comes to Conseco Fieldhouse as a visitor for the first time in some nine years. It’d be hard to imagine the fans doing anything but giving J.O. a warm welcome, and they’ll probably do so more willingly if he isn’t averaging 20 and 10 in mid-January.
Fri, Jan. 23 – vs. Houston
Mr. Ron Artest comes to town, with more of a supporting cast than he enjoyed in Sacramento. However, there’s a good chance that at this point in the season, either Tracy McGrady or Yao Ming will be out of the lineup due to injury.
Wed, Feb. 11 – @ Milwaukee
The Bucks are one of the many improved teams that will be gunning for one of the lower seeds in the Eastern Conference. Richard Jefferson-Danny Granger will be an interesting matchup, and the Pacers will hope Dunleavy Jr. can hold his own against Michael Redd in this road matchup.
Sun, Feb. 22 – vs. Chicago
Ford and the Pacers will get an up close look at Derrick Rose, the first overall pick from June’s NBA Draft. His strength will be a problem for Ford on the defensive end, and in the paint. At this point in the season we’ll know if he’s a true Rookie of the Year candidate, or if someone like Greg Oden, Michael Beasley, O.J. Mayo or (gasp) Brandon Rush leads the race.
Wed, Mar. 18 – vs. Portland
The top overall pick from last year’s draft, Greg Oden, will come home to take on the Pacers in this intriguing mid-March matchup. In addition to the sight of Oden in the Fieldhouse, we’ll see Rush and Jerryd Bayless do battle for just the second time since they were swapped this summer.
Fri, Mar. 20 – vs. Dallas
Carlisle and his Mavericks come to town. The Pacers have famously played Dallas tough in recent years, but the man who has always excelled against Mark Cuban’s club, Jamaal Tinsley, isn’t expected to be in town.
Wed, Apr. 8 – vs. Toronto
O’Neal comes to town for the second time, with playoff positioning likely on the line (at least for the Raptors). Its games like this one that the Pacer faithful are going to have to fill the seats for, because bringing up the rear in league attendance can’t happen again.
Wed, Apr. 15 – vs. Milwaukee
The playoff picture will be decided at this point, the last day of the regular season for the Pacers. It’s not a definite that Indiana's season will end on this night for the third-straight year, but it’ll take some overachieving on their part over the course of the full 82-game schedule to make the postseason a possibilty.
Andrew Perna is a Senior Writer for RealGM.com. Please feel free to contact him with comments or questions via e-mail – Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com. |
