Indiana Pacers: It’s More Than Just Perfection

Another NBA weekend passes, one team still remains unbeaten.  Fans in the Indianapolis area can continue walking the streets with swag as their Indiana Pacers are 7-0 and at the top of the list of most impressive stories since the season began.

Defeating the Toronto Raptors on Friday as they withstood Rudy Gay‘s huge night, Indiana managed to get a phenomenal third quarter out of superstar Paul George and escape.  Notice the adjective for George?  The talk of “Paul George is an upcoming star in this league” just needs to stop immediately.

No. 24 is lighting up the NBA this season. It’s not Kobe Bryant. (NBA.com photo)

He’s already made the leap to a Top 10 player in the NBA, as well as a guy that is destined to win the Most Valuable Player Award this season if he can lead the Pacers to the Eastern Conference’s best record.

On Friday, George and Gay battled throughout the whole game, the two splitting up their production in both halves.  In the first half, it was Gay that scorched Indiana for 22 points and helped Toronto take a 46-44 lead into halftime.  In the third quarter, however, George scored 17 points and helped the Pacers gain a lead that was too much for the Raptors to overcome.  Indiana went on the win the game 91-84, as George finished with 23 points, eight rebounds and six assists.  Despite his efficient first half, Gay finished the game with 30 points, meaning he was held to only eight points in the second half by the lock-down defense that Indiana has put on display the past two years.

The win over Toronto tied their greatest start in franchise history at 6-0.  They then broke it the following night at the Barclays Center.

Saturday’s win against the new-look Brooklyn Nets was far more impressive and even more revealing for the Pacers.  Although George put up his seventh consecutive 20-plus point performance, the player that stood out the most was the team’s veteran, David West.  West put in 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting, along with grabbing eight rebounds in the Pacers’ 96-91 win.  Indiana gave Brooklyn a little bit of life in the fourth quarter after a crucial turnover from George throwing an ill-advised pass falling out of bounds.  In the end, however, it was Joe Johnson missing the game-tying 3-pointer and Indiana holding on to become 7-0 for the first time in the organization’s history.

Let’s backtrack for a second and just sink in what 7-0 means for Indiana.  Not even Reggie Miller and Mark Jackson‘s 1999-2000 Pacers began a season this consistent and impressive.

OVERREACTION ALERT:  Those 1999-2000 Pacers advanced to the NBA Finals.  And this team is probably twice as good and more complete.

After the win on Saturday, coach Frank Vogel addressed the franchise’s first perfect start through seven games:

"“I really don’t get too caught up in the historical value of it, other than we’re ahead of the race,” Vogel said.  “We’re trying to get the 1 seed to put ourselves in the position come playoff time with the best chance to come out of the East.”"

Unlike most of the league, the Pacers seem to be putting a lot of stock into the first half of the season.  The most commonly used phrase in sports these days tends to be, “It’s only _____ games into the season.”

What is the ceiling for this team WITH Danny Granger? Photo Credit: Who’s the Bet, Flickr.com

Well, I’m here to tell everyone that it’s the best mentality to have if you are the Indiana Pacers.  The 2012-13 regular season was probably considered a disappointment for Indiana, as they expected to win more than 49 games and be closer to a No. 2 seed.  This season, they aren’t going to be playing catch-up to the Miami Heat, or anyone for that matter.

The notion that it’s “just seven games into the season” isn’t valid when you look at how the Pacers are winning basketball games.  In the NBA, overreacting to a few inhuman offensive performances would be utterly ridiculous.  For example, if Paul George had come in the first two weeks of the season and scored 45 points on multiple occasions, that’s something we know will come back to Earth soon enough.

That is not the case, however, with defensive powerhouses.  If there is one thing in the NBA that doesn’t fluctuate often, it’s a team’s defensive mindset.  Either your players have the will and effort to compete on that end of the floor.

Every member of the Indiana Pacers possess the desire to put a lid on the rim and prevent anyone from getting easy buckets.

Through these seven games, Indiana ranks 1st in the NBA in points-allowed, surrendering just 85.3 points per game.  As great of a scorer as George has become and as improved as Lance Stephenson‘s long-range jumper has been, the reason they are 7-0 is Roy Hibbert‘s astounding 4.3 blocks per game and their desire to play team basketball.

Earlier this summer, I gave all NBA fans a preview of just who would be the BEST defensive team in the league this season.  Should’ve listened:

By actually caring about the beginning of the season and not waiting until after the All-Star break to lock down teams, Indiana is going to be the team being chased for the top seed in the East, rather than chasing Miami.

Whether or not general manager Kevin Pritchard wants to hang onto Danny Granger remains to be seen, but it’s becoming quite clear that this starting unit plays terrific basketball together as it is.  With that said, how do you think other teams are feeling when they realize Indiana’s probable second-leading scorer hasn’t even played a game yet?

Add Granger to the second unit and we have another true contender for the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ 72-win record.

No, I’m not going that far with this team this early, neither.  But watching Coach Vogel’s group jump to the next level just leaves you too excited at times.

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