NBA Power Rankings Week 19: April review and the rising Phoenix Suns

20. Indiana Pacers

Last Week: Beat Orlando Magic 131-112, Lost to Portland Trail Blazers 133-112, Lost to Brooklyn Nets 130-113, Beat Oklahoma City Thunder 152-95

This Week: 5/3 at Washington Wizards, 5/5 vs. Sacramento Kings, 5/6 vs. Atlanta Hawks, 5/8 vs. Washington Wizards

There has been nothing enjoyable in the month of April for the Indiana Pacers. Injuries have hampered every team in the league but the Pacers have had it just as bad as anyone. The Pacers played 16 games in April. Malcolm Brogdon missed four. Domantas Sabonis, the lone All-Star for the team, missed nine. Myles Turner, once a Defensive Player of the Year contender, played just four games. Turner joined TJ Warren as starters out of the lineup indefinitely.

In the absence of their better players, it is a lot of Caris LeVert, Edmond Sumner and Oshae Brissett. LeVert is obviously the future for the team but the shooting has been brutal He attempted 5.5 3-point shots per game this month and shot an abysmal 28.4 percent. He got expectations up as a 36.4 percent shooter last season. That will need to return to his game to give the Pacers the dynamic scoring threat they need.

The Pacers are going to fall somewhere in the play-in tournament solely on the basis that the 11-15 seeded teams in the Eastern Conference are essentially non-competitive at this point. The Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors are lurking but there is enough of a cushion there, combined with the uninspiring play of those two teams, that the Pacers should make it.