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Nothing says “street” quite like Tyler Hansbrough, and his team the Indiana Pacers. Well not really. But here’s the former North Carolina Tar Heels star and icon of college basketball drinking a 40 oz in a brown paper bag; at something that looks to be a tiki bar.
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Well, here is the Miami Heat for the second year in a row: the Eastern Conference Finals. All of us know how last year ended for the Heat: a 4-2 NBA Finals loss to Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks. Last year, the Heat beat the Boston Celtics in the second round of the NBA playoffs, 4-1. But it’s a new year and, probably, the last time the Boston’s “Big Three + Rondo” will ever be together. So what are we to expect from these two teams with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line? Let’s take a look.
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I am not a very happy man right now. I’m just not. I am not sour because the Indiana Pacers were blown off the floor by the Miami Heat tonight. Did you see Indiana’s offense? I watched about five minutes of the game and couldn’t take it. Miami is the better team, and it’s obvious. But I’m still upset and here’s why.
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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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With nearly $34 million coming off the books and a head coaching vacancy that has yet to be filled, there are certainly questions surrounding the Indiana Pacers and more questions will arise over the next week as the 2011 NBA Draft approaches. Despite finishing with a record below .500, the Pacers made their first postseason appearance since 2006. Indiana’s starting five will remain the same next season: Darren Collison, Paul George, Danny Granger, Tyler Hansbrough and Roy Hibbert.
However, even with money available to spend during the offseason, a weak free agent class may force the Pacers to look to the draft to fill any voids.
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If there’s ever a PSA, and a cautious example for the case against home schooling, it’s the audio below. The Pacers Tyler Hansbrough became a thorn in the side of Chicago Bulls fans in Round one of the NBA playoffs. Therefore, they’ll get a kick out of this audio of Hansbrough reading to children.
It’s tough to make fun someone when they’re doing community service for children- but his pronouncing of numerous words is just awful, and awfully hilarious. It’s too difficult to not laugh at this. Although I do feel awful for laughing so much at this because, he’s just doing a great service for NBA Cares.
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The Indiana Pacers were right there.
The No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, the team nobody believed could hang with the first-seeded Chicago Bulls in this first-round NBA playoff series, did just that Saturday at United Center.
The Pacers just couldn’t finish the deal, falling 104-99 after allowing the Bulls to go on a 16-1 run in the final 3:38.
By Drew Allen
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Fans in Area 55 weren’t going to be left out in the cold.
The rowdiest spectators in Conseco Fieldhouse remained in the Roy Hibbert-sponsored section well after the final buzzer of the Indiana Pacers’ 136-112 rout of the Washington Wizards to watch the final minutes of the Orlando Magic’s overtime victory against the Charlotte Bobcats on the arena’s jumbo screen.
And sure enough, those fans were the first to know their team had clinched its first berth in the NBA playoffs since the 2005-06 season.
By Drew Allen
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