| Four Out Of Five Ain’t Bad Authored by Andrew Perna - February 15, 2006 - 2:10 am
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The win over the Lakers brought Indiana back to .500, but the Pacers weren’t done winning yet. They went from stopping the league’s top scorer, to stopping the league’s top team. The Pacers welcomed their nemesis the Detroit Pistons, who brought along their incredible 39-6 record, and pulled off a 93-85 upset victory.
They then recorded impressive, but not surprising, victories over Portland and Golden State before heading into Sunday’s game against the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. They even had the champs beat, until a furious charge led by Manu Ginobili gave the Spurs a 92-88 comeback victory.
Following a six-game losing streak one win in the next five games would have been a move in the right direction for the Pacers, especially with games against San Antonio, Detroit, and Kobe, I mean Los Angeles. Instead Indiana enjoyed their role of underdog once again, and rattled off four out of five, which to me – ain’t bad.
Over the last five games newcomer Peja Stojakovic has looked more comfortable in the Pacer offense – averaging 19.2 points and 7.8 rebounds during the stretch. Indiana’s team offense has taken off as well. The Pacers averaged nearly 99 points a game over the last five contests, almost six points above their season average. You can attribute that to their improved rebounding. Indiana averaged 52 rebounds in their last five games, well above their season average of just over 41 a game.
Best of all the Pacers have been improving as a team. Danny Granger has shown flashes of his unlimited potential over the last few weeks. Not including Sunday’s game against the Spurs, he had averages of 14.2 points and 10.4 rebounds over the past few weeks. They have also enjoyed increased production from David Harrison, Scot Pollard, and Anthony Johnson – a group I affectionately refer to as “The Replacements.”
Once again because of the antics of the NBA’s resident Looney Tune, Ron Artest, the Pacers have been forced to play as a team or become lottery bound. Also, just like last year the Pacers have been forced to play without many of their best players. Over the past few weeks, the Pacers have been without Jermaine O’Neal, Jamaal Tinsley, Austin Croshere, and occasionally Jeff Foster.
Anthony Johnson was quoted in the Indianapolis Star as saying, “It feels good to have that monkey off our back, it’s a joyous locker room.”
I don’t think he was talking about a gorilla, or even a chimpanzee, but just maybe he was speaking of a certain Tru Warier.
These Pacers have become a team, and they need to keep looking forward as a collective unit. They will face Milwaukee on Wednesday before getting almost a week off for the all-star break. They will then close out February with games against the Hornets, Pistons, Hawks, and Nets. Excluding Atlanta, all of their opponents are playoff caliber. Of course, Atlanta stands undefeated against Indiana this season, with victories over the Pacers accounting for two of their whopping fifteen total wins.
March Madness will then hit Indiana with eighteen games in thirty days. Fortunately for the Pacers only seven of those eighteen games will be against teams who currently have winning records, and only three of those seven teams are more than a handful of games over .500 – Detroit, Miami, and Phoenix.
The Pacers, currently a half of a game out of the Eastern Conference’s fourth seed, have a limited opportunity to improve. Sharing the Central Division with the 41-9 Pistons doesn’t lend the Pacers the option of earning anything higher than the fourth seed, but they could very well finish with a better record then the third seed, which will likely be the winner of the Atlantic Division.
You never know maybe they’ll even win a series or two. Unfortunately, if they remain the fifth seed or jump to the fourth seed, they would have the pleasure of facing the Pistons in the second round.
How does the saying go?
The third time’s a charm. |
