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Everyone expected the Indiana Pacers to emerge as one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference this season. However, even the most optimistic fan of the team couldn’t imagine such a magical start in the 2013-2014 campaign. 10 games into the season, the Pacers have only lost once, from the Chicago Bulls and they are still playing without their former best player, Danny Granger. So, things could get even better for Indiana as the season moves forward.
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The Indiana Pacers were hoping to enter the 2012-13 NBA season with improved depth after shaking up their roster considerably during the summer.
What depth they do have took a hit Tuesday and will be tested early and often.
Pacers forward Danny Granger has been dealing with pain in his left knee and will be out indefinitely, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. That leaves Indiana without its top scorer each of the past five seasons for now, starting with tonight’s season opener at Toronto.
How will the Pacers look to compensate for Granger’s loss, however long it might last?
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Most people want to say the Eastern Conference Semifinal series between the Indiana Pacers and the Miami Heat essentially ended Tuesday in Miami when the Heat clobbered the Pacers 115-83 to take a 3-2 lead.
Some, including columnist Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star, say the Pacers won’t go so quietly because they have every bit the mental toughness as a team that Miami has.
One thing’s for sure: With Indiana finally facing a real must-win situation at 8 p.m. today at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, we’re about to find out which side is correct.
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Wow, where to start with Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal series between the Indiana Pacers and the Miami Heat?
The lackluster play from the get-go for the Pacers? The three flagrant fouls called? The injuries to Danny Granger and David West? Team president Larry Bird calling out his players for going soft?
The Heat pretty much controlled the entire game Tuesday en route to a 115-83 victory at AmericanAirlines Arena and a 3-2 series lead, but the real story of this game might have been the juicy story lines it has produced for the next 48 hours leading up to Thursday’s pivotal Game 6 in Indianapolis.
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With this NBA Eastern Conference Semifinal series tied at 2-2, several local news outlets who cover the Indiana Pacers say tonight’s Game 5 in Miami is a must-win for the team if it is to win the series and advance to the conference finals.
I don’t quite see it that way myself. I believe the Pacers are far more capable of winning a Game 7 in AmericanAirlines Arena than most want to say they are.
That said, winning tonight would be absolutely huge for Indiana, who then could close it out Thursday at home, writing another wonderful chapter in the comeback of pro basketball in Indianapolis and getting plenty of rest for the next round.
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The Indiana Pacers attained a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference Semifinal series with the Miami Heat largely by playing their game.
Feed the post (center Roy Hibbert, power forward David West) on offense; deny the post and the rim and play aggressive man defense.
The Pacers fell 101-93 to the Heat in Game 4 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Sunday because they didn’t play that game.
Now they have to notch another win in Miami if they are to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
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The Indiana Pacers made their presence felt early Sunday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
A few glaring problems, however, prevented the upstart team from completely shocking the nation with an opening-game victory.
The Pacers, the East’s No. 3 seed, couldn’t shake deep foul trouble, poor free-throw shooting and quiet nights from wings Danny Granger and Paul George, falling 95-86 to the second-seeded Miami Heat at AmericanAirlines Arena.
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This time three years ago, the Indiana Pacers had fallen so far out of the public eye, both nationally and in their own city, there was talk the franchise might soon be on the move.
Now, they’re about to be as relevant in sports nation as they can be — they’re playing a playoff series against the most polarizing team in the NBA — and maybe in American sports.
Fresh off a 4-1 opening-round victory against the Orlando Magic in which the Pacers gained back much of the lost connection with local fans, they carry the momentum of their first playoff series win in seven years into an Eastern Conference Semifinal matchup with the second-seeded Miami Heat.
Does Indy stand a chance?
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Look at the top of the NBA’s Eastern Conference standings as this lockout-shortened regular season draws to a close.
The top two teams look familiar — the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat.
The third-place team in the East? It isn’t the Boston Celtics. It isn’t the Orlando Magic.
It’s the Indiana Pacers.
The long-suffering franchise has climbed to a 41-22 record, winning 11 of their 12 games in April — best in the NBA this month. We all knew the Pacers could have a strong 2011-12 campaign on the heels of their competitive playoff series with the Chicago Bulls last season, but how exactly did they get this good?
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The Indiana Pacers entered this shortened 2011-12 season expected to make noise in the Eastern Conference — very much unlike the Pacers teams of the last four years.
Apparently aware of such expectations, Indiana opened its slate with a bang.
The Pacers’ three top big men, center Roy Hibbert, forward Tyler Hansbrough and the newly signed forward David West, each recorded a double-double Monday in Indiana’s 91-79 dismantling of the Detroit Pistons at Bankers Life (formerly Conseco) Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Pacers (1-0) led the entire game.
Granted, the Pistons (0-1) project as one of the NBA’s lesser teams this season, but it was a fine start for a Pacers squad that looks to build on last year’s breakthrough playoff appearance with an even higher standing in the East.
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Welcome back, NBA.
And welcome back, Indiana Pacers.
The early-morning agreement Nov. 26 between the league and the players’ union ensures the highest level of professional basketball will be played — albeit under a shortened schedule.
The great news for the Pacers — one of the NBA’s small-market franchises — is that this tentative collective bargaining agreement, which will give players roughly 51.2 percent of basketball-related revenue, will allow teams from any market to be competitive in free agency and, by extension, on the basketball court.
It’s been way too long, folks. Let’s get to examining what the Pacers can do before the condensed season commences and what kind of team they’ll be in 2011-12.
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The Indiana Pacers finally made the long-expected hire of Frank Vogel as head coach official Wednesday.
Vogel and Pacers President Larry Bird addressed the media, each saying he felt good about the direction of the franchise going forward.
While I tend to agree — especially knowing that revered NBA assistant coach Brian Shaw will come aboard as Vogel’s associate head coach — I can’t help but question Bird’s motives in waiting this long, not to mention wonder what further complications the NBA lockout will beckon for this young Pacers team.
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