Indiana Pacers: Can They Reach The East Playoffs?

Signs Against Cleveland

LeBron continues to struggle in Bankers Life Fieldhouse. For the first time since 2010, however, he entered Indianapolis dressed in wine and gold with the Cavaliers.

Since it was also the first time C.J. Miles faced his former team in Indiana, it was almost destiny for him to play with a motive of revenge. It has to hit home when the team you dedicated two seasons of your career to (Cleveland) revamps their roster into a championship contender after you leave. Miles elected to sign with Indiana on July 2, just nine days before LeBron announced the most shocking decision in NBA history. In some ways, it was only Miles’ fault.

In the fourth quarter of Friday’s meeting vs. Cleveland, Miles let the entire Cavaliers roster have it. He managed to score 16 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the fourth alone, which also included three 3-pointers and five free throws. Heavily covered or coming off basic screens, everything was falling for the lefty.

It didn’t hurt that J.R. Smith wasn’t too enthused about playing strong defense and was too fixated on the opposite side of the court:

Smith turned his back to Miles for just two seconds, and Roy Hibbert made sure he couldn’t recover in time to contest the corner triple. Hibbert’s subtle bump in the back to Smith served as his type of pin-down screen. Combine that with the fact that Timofey Mozgov had no clue someone flared to the corner, and Miles had himself an open look.

An area Indiana thrived in during the streak-breaking win over Cleveland was forcing turnovers.

On the season, Cleveland hasn’t been accustomed to coughing up the ball an abundant amount of times. They’re still a top 10 team in fewest turnovers per night (13.2) and there were many instances during their 12-game winning streak where they limited themselves to 10 or fewer.

But, this was the Pacers, and we know the Pacers for one winning component. Yes, the stifling defense.

While Indiana only forces 12.2 turnovers per game, Frank Vogel does a marvelous job of keeping his guys on the attack. Every passing lane. Every attempt to split a double team. Every isolation try. Every rebounding chance. The emphasis is always on being feisty, and bringing help defense from the weak side without giving up perimeter shots.

More than anything, Indiana tries to inflict their young athleticism on opposing superstars. Paul George went through this the last two years, as he turned into the best two-way player in the league last season. Vogel likes to show off his aggressive, overlooked wing defenders.

Now, it’s Solomon Hill that’s transforming into a defensive pest.

Hill’s attention to detail on defense has grown since he entered the league last year, and some would think it’s because George has mentored him through practices and during games (on the bench).

LeBron’s night wasn’t simple, as he struggled from the field and made costly mistakes against the Pacers’ defense. Three crucial turnovers in the fourth quarter alone put the Cavaliers against their own wall. You have to give credit to LeBron, because most of his turnovers or mistakes were results of him being aggressive, attacking the paint, and doing his job as a leader. If he had been hanging back and transforming into a jump-shooter with no real intention of taking Indiana off the dribble, there would be an even greater problem.

Damjan Rudez plays better defense than his reputation is known for, and he does a great job at keeping guys in front of him during penetration. It gave LeBron trouble throughout the night, but even that wasn’t James’ biggest nuisance.

Solomon Hill, who had the impossible task of containing James one-on-one for majority of his 36 minutes, came with a sense of responsibility. Poking his hands through passing lanes (to and from LeBron), putting his hands on the King just to let him know he’s there to be aggressive … everything worked for the sophomore forward.

If Indiana has their wing defenders tasting blood each and every night, there’s no way they should be counted out for the next 31 games.

The only issue is, on how many nights does this team gather 87 points from their starting lineup (66 from three players alone)? It was only David West’s third game of the year scoring 20+ points, and George Hill can’t be on the injured list again. Those odds seem a bit dubious.

Next: Big Man Actually Playing Big