Indiana Pacers: Is A 12-0 Start Plausible?
By Shane Young
Don’t look now, but the Indiana Pacers have a chance to do something special in the week ahead. As low-profile as Indiana has always been due to being considered a “small-market” franchise, everybody is going to be keeping up with the Pacers starting on Friday, as they put their 8-0 record on the line.
In the next four games for Frank Vogel’s perfect Pacers, we may just see exactly what this team is made of. Three of the next four match-ups are on the road, particularly in some of the toughest environments in the Eastern Conference.
Friday, Nov. 15th vs. Milwaukee Bucks
The Pacers haven’t been placed against a true “bottom-feeder” yet this season, the closest being the Orlando Magic (now 4-5 on the year) on opening night. Some people probably didn’t expect the situation in Milwaukee to be as bad as it is, but it’s certainly destined to be horrific. Give new head coach Larry Drew some credit, he’s probably doing the best he can without starting point guard Brandon Knight, who is still battling a hamstring injury. Rookie Nate Wolters is receiving an insane amount of minutes for a second-round draft pick (32.6) and being serviceable, at the very least, for Milwaukee.
With that being said, you can bet your bank account that Indiana comes away with a comfortable win on Friday night to improve to 9-0. The Bucks have lost three consecutive games, two of which have included the opponents’ best scorer enjoying himself. On Tuesday, LeBron James lit up the scoreboard for 33 points in just three quarters, while Orlando’s Arron Afflalo poured in 36 on Milwaukee Wednesday night. Yes, this means a certain MVP candidate named Paul George is due for another huge night. It’s deer season, and Roy Hibbert has the rifle. The paint is his tree stand.
Out of the next four games for Indiana, Friday’s meeting with Milwaukee will bring the least amount of pressure. Photo Credit: IsoSports, Flickr.com
Saturday, Nov. 16th at Chicago Bulls
Don’t let the lopsided meeting on Nov. 6th fool you. Indiana did take care of business at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and hold the Bulls to just 80 points for the game, but that’s not going to be the case this weekend. On the road this season (3 games), Indiana is giving up 90.7 points per game, which is still a phenomenal number. The difference is that the Bulls rarely ever allow a team to embarrass them in two straight games. Since the Miami Heat joined together the Big Three, we have seen Chicago bounce back numerous times after a sour defeat by the champs, mostly at the United Center.
This game is going to come down to the play of Lance Stephenson and the Pacers’ bench. Paul George already erased one of the doubts I had of him this season: his ability to not disappear in road games. If Stephenson continues to be on his Most Improved Player of the Year status and outplays the duo of Jimmy Butler/Mike Dunleavy, the only hope Chicago has for this win is Derrick Rose having his best game of the season. Oh yeah, Carlos Boozer is quietly having the most efficient season of his career, shooting 60.3 percent from the field and 90.9 percent from the free throw line. Boozer is going to be a problem, as his mid-range jumper is becoming absolute money and it’s likely to pull Roy Hibbert and David West away from the basket. That may be all Chicago needs.
Don’t sleep on Carlos Boozer’s terrific season, or the Bulls’ chance at ending Indiana”s streak. (Flickr.com photo/Keith Allison)
Wednesday, Nov. 20th at New York Knicks
Madison Square Garden will be the venue for the most interesting test for the Pacers in this electrifying start to the season. Fans must remember who Indiana dismantled in the Eastern Conference Semifinals last postseason. And no, it wasn’t the New York Knicks. It was J.R. Smith, one of the sole reasons why Indiana ousted Spike Lee’s Knicks in six games. After his suspension in the series against the Boston Celtics and cocky remark he made, Smith went into one of the worst shooting slumps in playoff history. Potentially bad news for Indiana is that Smith looks more confident, and the Knicks are holding their own without their defensive heart, Tyson Chandler.
You can assume that Smith is going to want to attack when Stephenson and George Hill are playing him aggressively, but he’s not going to be the primary focus. More so than Chicago’s Boozer, Knicks’ forward/center Andrea Bargnani has the ability to open a lane of possibilities for his team. Since Chandler’s knee injury, Bargnani is actually knocking down his shots and at least attempting to play defense, most notably by bumping with Dwight Howard in the post on Thursday and making it difficult for the big man to finish at the rim. Given that Indiana comes away from Chicago 10-0, the night may be gloomy for Vogel and the Pacers when, not if, New York heats up from the 3-point line.
Friday, Nov. 22nd at Boston Celtics
Finishing their three-game road trip, the Pacers will travel to TD Garden and take on a Celtics’ team that, so far, has experienced two different seasons. At the beginning of the year, it looked horrifying for Boston as they started 0-4. Since then, the defensive effort for this team has been through the roof, ranking seventh in the league in points allowed (95.6 per game). With Boston having to go against four of the league’s top teams (Minnesota, Portland, San Antonio, and Houston) prior to hosting Indiana, it’s asking a young Celtics team to do a lot in a one week span.
If Boston didn’t have to be meet up with some of the NBA’s offensive juggernauts between Nov. 15th and Nov. 20th, it would be easier to sense an upset occurring in this match-up. That’s just not how it’s going to be, and the head-to-head battle of Paul George and Jeff Green is going to be one of the more exciting ones since the season tipped off. Don’t count out the Celtics, however, they proved to be clutch down in South Beach.
[slider_pro id=”12″]