Look, I forgot they were playing last night. I mean, I knew there was a game – even wrote about it in yesterday’s recap – it’s just that my awareness of it was swept away by the first strong breeze. I wasn’t reminded of it until, while sitting at my nephew’s apartment watching Inglourious Basterds, I happened to check Twitter and see this:
So, I wander over and check the score real quick, and see the Pacers down 7 going into the 4th. I periodically check the box score, see them lingering just within reach before fading. I didn’t see a single second of game action, not even highlights, but, really, would that even be necessary for me to know what happened? Let’s run down the checklist.
Crappy start leads to early double-digit deficit – The Bucks bridged the 1st and 2nd quarters with a 29-10 run that put them up by 18. Check
Pacers get pounded on the boards – The Bucks outrebounded the Pacers by 10, including 6 on the offensive glass. Check
Pacers make a faux comeback, getting close enough to see where the hope dies, but not really close enough to threaten – The Pacers climbed to within three in third, then fell back down by 11. Hope was still alive until two scoreless minutes in the fourth left them down 12 with 3:48 to go. Check
Offensive stagnation and incompetence spelled their doom – The Pacers Offensive Efficiency was a putrid 90. Sadly, that’s not even horrible by this team’s standards. It does appear that they did choose the lesser used Option B – Turnovers as their means of achieving no achievement. Twenty turnovers mortally wounded their hopes of success at the offensive end, and their typical passivity killed them off. Indiana sits well towards the bottom in points in the paint per game at 37, but they could only wheedle their way to 16 points down there tonight. Checkity-Check-Check-Check
I could talk about some other stuff, but really, is there any reason to waste any more of our time on this game?
Oh, and One Other Thing
Look, I know T.J. has played well the last two games, but nothing has really changed. Unless A.J.’s injury is more serious than it appears – granted, a common occurrence with the Pacers – then Earl’s return will result in Ford’s return to the bench. Watson was playing relatively well (”relatively” being the operative word), and he’s been good for Roy Hibbert. There’s no reason to believe that A.J. will be sent to the bench, so, ya know, seeya, T.J.
Some argue that he should play in order to showcase him for a trade. I’m sorry, but this is silly. There isn’t in a GM in the league that will look at Ford over the next two games – four in total before the February 18th trading deadline – and say, “Wow! I was wrong about this guy. Let’s give the Pacers what they want (expiring contracts, prospects) and get him!” The league knows exactly what T.J.’s game is. They know his strengths and weaknesses. “Showcasing” players for trades is really, in my opinion, a figment of the imagination of fans and the media.
The only time that seeing players before a trade is of some value is when you’re trying to prove the guy is healthy. Ford was perfectly healthy when he fell out of the rotation, so that is not the case here. If someone is willing to give us what we want for Ford, then they will whether he plays the next two games or not. Or, more accurately, no one is going to make a sensible trade with us for T.J., regardless of whether he plays or not.
I realize that Pacer fans are clinging to the idea of all the cap room that is coming after next season like a castaway to a life raft, but they need look no further than our former rivals to see that it’s no magic cure. The Pistons traded away Chauncey Billups last season, effectively ending an era. The deal brought back Allen Iverson, which was a win-win situation in Joe Dumars’ eyes. If Iverson worked out, they’d have a prime time scorer that could help them in the playoffs. If not, his $20+ million contract would expire, leaving them ample cap room going into last summer.
Well, it was the latter, rather than the former, and the Detroit Pistons got to go on a shopping spree last summer. Christmas in July. Piston fans woke up to find Ben Gordon (5/$58 million), Charlie Villaneuva (5/$38 million) under the tree, and Chris Wilcox and Ben Wallace as stocking stuffers. Now, I’m clearly not a Piston fan, but to me, this would have been like expecting a shiny new bike, and getting a nice sweater.
Or perhaps Jack trading the cow for magic beans would be a more apt simile. I don’t know. In any case, Pacer fans have now seen 8 quarters of the new Detroit Pistons. In those 8 quarters, this Piston team has been, to be kind, spectacularly bad. The Pacers led last night by as many 31 points points. In Detroit last month, they led by as many as 23 points. Against the Pacers, the Pistons have been incompetent offensively (averaging 88 points on .416 eFG%) and incompetent defensively (allowing 108 points on .558 eFG%).
True, two games is a small sample size, but it’s a miserable performance against a Pacer team that Pacer fans, after watching 200 quarters, have come to acknowledge as, ummm, spectacularly bad. Also, I’d add the three or four other Piston games I’ve seen, along with their overall record of 16-32, to the existing evidence and rest my case on Detroit being a pretty bad team. Sure, they’ve had some injuries, but you can’t tell me that Charlie Villanueva was going to make a difference last night. Besides, they’re 8-21 with Ben Gordon and 8-11 without him. And again, it is impossible to adequately describe just how easily the Pacers have handled the Pistons in their two meetings this year.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that they’ll be bad forever. Gordon has some serious scoring chops, and their rookie Jerebko looks like a real keeper. It doesn’t even necessarily mean that spending their money on Gordon and Villanueva was a mistake, though I believe it was. It should simply serve as an object lesson to Pacer fans. Having cap space is good, but you still have to (a) make the right decisions and (b) have it at a time when there are valuable assets available on which to use it. The turnaround won’t be complete in 2011. The sun won’t suddenly burst through the clouds, bringing warmth and happiness to a weary Pacer nation. In many ways, 2011 will be the beginning, not the end. We should be prepared for that.
Five Other Things
Hey, I remember him – T.J. Ford made his first appearance since December 30th last night, getting backup minutes due to Earl Watson’s absence. (Our condolences go out to Earl and his family over the loss of his grandmother.) There appeared to be no rust on his game, as he scored 11 points and dealt out 5 assists. He was 4-for-4 from the floor in the first half, and got a huge cheer when he nailed just his second three pointer of the season. He was manning the point as the Pacers finished the first half on a 14-2 run to break open the game. He’ll get time again tonight in Milwaukee, but it’s an open question as to whether he’ll see time after Watson’s return. I may not be a huge fan of his game, but I am a huge fan of his professionalism. He came here with a reputation of being something of a pouter. T.J. responded well last season to being replaced by Jarrett Jack, and to all appearances, he’s been a model teammate during these very difficult times.
A.J. gets his first start – When you draft somebody 52nd overall, the harsh truth is that you’re not even sure he’ll be able to make the roster. However, the Pacers certainly have gotten value out of the 6′2″ Husky. Though it’s certainly no Lou-Gehrig-for-Wally-Pipp situation, A.J. Price acquitted himself nicely last night. As the 26th different Pacer to get the starting nod in Jim O’Brien’s tenure, Price added 4 rebounds and 4 assists to his 8 points in 25 minutes of game time. Since January 1st, he’s averaged 9.7 points and 2.4 assists in just under 20 minutes a night. After struggling early, his shooting eye has returned, and he’s hit almost 48% of his threes (22-for-46) over the last seven games. He’ll start again tonight, but will likely return to his reserve role when Earl returns.
Obie back on the bench – Lester Conner drew rave reviews after Tuesday’s win over Toronto for his substitute role as head coach. I was interested to see what would happen with O’Brien back in charge. Early on, Mike Wells (@Wells222) tweeted “Seems like O’Brien has called more plays in 14 minutes than Conner did the entire game Tuesday.” However, there was no collapse. The team played hard and well, and the ball movement was excellent for most of the evening. As I’ve said before, I actually think O’Brien is a pretty decent coach. However, he has shown signs of desperation, and it does appear to an outside observer that his hold on the team is tenuous. Detroit is much worse than Toronto, but there were no overt negative responses by the team to O’Brien’s presence. All coaches (not named Jerry Sloan) have a built-in expiration date, and Jim is probably closer to his than he is to his “born on” date. Last night was fun and easy, but the rest of the season will not be. This situation bears watching.
Danny, good and bad – Danny’s struggles this season have been well documented. Since New Year’s he’s shot less that 32% on three pointers. In the first half last night, he missed three really good looks from beyond the arc. The low point came when he airballed an unguarded, measured three from the corner. I mean, this thing looked like it was two-feet short. When he’s on line, he’s consistently short. He seems to have to really chuck the ball to get it all the way there. My first inclination is to think he’s lost his legs, which is worrisome for a guy who shot so effortlessly from deep over the past two seasons. All that being said, he still scored 25 points on 9-for-17 from the floor. He played a complete floor game and had the highlight of the evening. After Will Bynum had waved his teammates away, indicating that he wanted to iso Danny and take him to the rim, Danny coolly picked his pocket, took it coast to coast, drawing not only a foul on Bynum, but also a technical on the Detroit guard as well. (Oh, and as much as Danny’s struggled this year, he’s still playing better than Charlie Villanueva, who was selected 10 slots ahead of him in 2005, ever has.)
Extended Garbage Time – How bad was it last night? O’Brien, who never does this, actually cleared his bench. The last five minutes of the game featured a line up of Travis Diener, A.J. Price, Dahntay Jones, Josh McRoberts, and Solomon Jones. A nice luxury to have with the Pacers flying to Milwaukee last night for tonight’s game.
In Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the New York Knicks, director Dan Klores recounts one of the NBA’s most underrated rivalries in a beautifully crafted tale that centers around three Pacers/Knicks playoff series from 1993 to 1995. I saw it yesterday and it certainly lives up to its heralded billing as one of the best films in ESPN’s ongoing 30 for 30 film series.
Pacer fans will see it as the story of their adopted son leading their team to national prominence by slaying the hated Knicks. Knicks fans are likely to see it as somewhat less epic. (And those of us who are more enlightened — and much better looking — will, of course, view it as inspiration for the name of a great blog.)
The documentary will also be entertaining for all sports fans regardless of how familiar they are with the rivalry, as Klores brings plenty of laugh-out-loud moments in a work he calls “fun” and a “comedy.” He provides a nice framework to allow the principle characters — the players, coaches and members of the media — to tell the story in their own words, so the uninitiated will quickly be brought up to speed with first-hand anecdotes of playoff heroics. By the time the documentary reaches the moment for which this site is named, even those who dislike the NBA will be pretty engaged in the drama of the rivalry.
And for those of us who feel as though we lived through those battles as soldiers in the fight rather than just passive onlookers, it provides so much more. It is both a reminder of the days when “Pacer Pride” actually meant something and a look behind the curtain. Even though the Pacers/Knicks battles of the 90s are almost part of my DNA (and I still have the scar from the headbutt Starks gave Reggie to prove it), Klores still was able to provide vignettes that were new to me.
For me, however, Winning Time was even more than that. It was a reaffirmation of who I am as a Pacer fan. The movie, and the anticipation of it, triggered strong memories. These aren’t limited to Reggie’s heroics. I found my entire life as a Pacer fan flashing before my eyes.
These are just some of the random fragments:
When the Pacers won their last championship in 1973, I was 7 years old. I have distant memories of going to the Fairgrounds Coliseum, but very little of the game play. My favorite player was Billy Keller. What I remember of the games is walking to and from the car with my dad and my godfather, his best friend Dick Perry.
I’m the youngest of nine children, and 10-and-a-half years younger than the second youngest. My only brother is 16 years older than me, and I spent most of my childhood being vaguely afraid of him. At one point, he convinced me that he kept a pet coyote (“ky-do-te” to my young mind) and water buffalo downstairs next door, which somehow frightened the bejeezus out of me. However, my most vivid memory of the ABA Pacers comes from listening to them playing the Dallas Chaparrals on a radio with Terry in his room one night. I don’t even remember the score, but I remember the sounds and the light of the room and the dark outside.
The only reason I ever got to see John Havlicek play in person is because my brother-in-law, Vince, thought it was something a 12-year-old should see. The Pacers lost that night, but I distinctly recall the conversation Vince and I had getting out of the car. A childlike discussion of the preceding summer’s telethon and strange, innocent feeling of pride surrounding the city banding together to save the team. Those of you outside Indiana — or just anyone under 30 — might not know, but the Pacers, once known as “the Boston Celtics of the ABA,” faced fiscal straights that would have forced the team to relocate had the community not literally ponied up their own hard-earned money to bail out the franchise and keep them in Indianapolis.
Until late in Reggie’s career, my favorite NBA Pacer was Billy Knight. That attachment was formed by listening to the Pacers on the radio every game during the 1980-81 season. This was my freshman year of high school, and it’s when I formed my connection to basketball. I spent that year listening to the Pacers on their way to their first NBA Playoff appearance, and the Indiana Hoosiers on their way to their fourth NCAA title. I can still hear “Hockey” Bob Lamey’s calls of running-one-handers, and cheering for BK and Johnny Davis and James Edwards and Boo-Boo and the return of Big Mac.
I remember a fleeting moment of glory in an otherwise disastrous 1985 season. My brother’s best friend had a single season ticket (face value $4), and he couldn’t go to a January game vs. the Chicago Bulls. The temperatures were frigid that night, but I was able to coax my ‘72 Cutlass down to Market Square anyway. I was joined by several hundred other fools, as we witnessed a rare Pacer victory. The big moment came with the Pacers up one and the clock ticking down. Michael Jordan isolated Jim Thomas, but Jimmy picked his pocket, securing the game. I think I lived off that game for like two years.
I was in Market Square Arena, with my brother Terry and my brother-in-law Vince as we cheered the selection of Wayman Tisdale, were stunned by the selection of Chuck Person, and did not boo the selection of Reggie Miller (though, in all honestly, we were hoping that Horace Grant would fall to the Pacers). We also sat through all 7 rounds of that 1985 draft, with Terry and Vince begging the Pacers to take Tyrone Corbin from DePaul. They did not. The Pacers took Billy Martin and Dwayne McClain with their two second-round picks. Tyrone Corbin went on to play over 1,000 games in the NBA. Neither Martin nor McClain were quite that successful.
Over the years, NBA Draft Night has risen to an equivalent stature in my house with the Super Bowl. Though we missed last year, I have usually had my brother Terry and my friend Alex (who has written here at 8p9s) over to watch the draft. The year we drafted David Harrison, I was in Kansas City on business. I spent the entire evening on my cell phone “watching” the draft with Alex.
I distinctly remember the look on Terry’s face on the night the Boomer was “born.” If I recall correctly, the Pacers were playing in Milwaukee, when, with much drama, Eddie Doucette breathlessly told of breaking news back in Indy. They cut to a grainy, Zapruder-quality video of some large stuffed animal breaking out of a box underneath MSA. If you would like a re-enactment of my reaction, just look at John Starks’ face when he missed those free throws in Game One of the 1995 series.
Prior to Game 4 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, the crowd at Market Square had reached a fever pitch. If you never had the pleasure, it is impossible to describe how loud that place could get. However, the other thing about that building was that it was a dome and the floor was actually well above street level. Market Street actually passed under it. Therefore, the entire building actually felt unstable when the crowd went off. As the teams huddled prior to tip, and the crowd rocked the building — both literally and figuratively — I spied second-year Knick Hubert Davis staring up at the crowd, slack-jawed, with an expression of awe that was teetering on the edge of outright fear.
These are just the old-school memories. This doesn’t include the many other flashbacks that dot the years of my life as a Pacer fan like signposts. These others cover the entire range of emotion from the elation of beating the Knicks or making the finals to the Larry Johnson four-point play and the gut-wrenching dread that slowly descended on me in the hours after the brawl. I could go on for thousands of words without running dry.
As much as anything, the Pacers have been a part of my life. While that may sound like a life of misplaced priority, I would invite you to look at those memories again. Almost all of them mention family or friends. Those that don’t were experienced in the company of family or friends. At the end of the day, the Indiana Pacers have been a vehicle through which I’ve been able to enhance connections with my family and friends, and forge new ones with those who share my passion.
There’s no denying the dark cloud that has hovered over Pacerland for last few years. Many fans have fallen away, regrettably with good reason. The Blue and Gold haven’t faced this much futility on the court in over two decades.
So this documentary could not have come at a more opportune time to help remind me of the basis of my connection with the Pacers. In fact, in the midst of an ugly basketball game earlier this season, the Pacers played a huge role in enhancing the most important relationship I will ever have.
If you’re a Pacer fan, do yourself a favor, and catch Winning Time. Remind yourself of why you fell in love with the Pacers, and what it will feel like when they finally get back on track. Watch it for the laughs and the new information contained as the insiders share their perspectives. And if for no other reason, watch it for the opportunity it will give you to relive moments and memories with those near and dear to you.
Feel good about being a Pacer fan again.
ESPN audiences will first see Winning Time on Sunday, March 14at 9:00 pm. However, those in the Indianapolis area can attend Special Premiere Movie Event at Conseco Fieldhouse at 8:00 pm on Friday, February 26. Reggie Miller, among others, will attend and proceeds from the event will benefit The People’s Burn Foundation, Riley Children’s Hospital and the Pacers Foundation. Also, below you can check out a preview of what is obviously the favorite scene of someone who would create a blog called Eight Points, Nine Seconds.
For a while now, Hoopdata, which has quickly become an indispensable site for basketball fans, has been looking at the “four factors of winning” for every team in the league in comparison to one another. And today Tom Haberstroh posted their fifth edition, which had and interesting note about Indiana.
Here’s the chart (and for reference, green is good and red is bad):
And here are Haberstroh’s quick thoughts on the Pacers:
Indiana’s defense fouls way too much, so much so that their defense is merely average despite their excellent ability to keep opponent effective field goal percentage down.
We’ve been beating these efficiency stats into the ground all year, so I’m not going to go into any more detail. Those of you who are into this type of stuff can see where all the red is clear as day: It’s the offense.
Unfortunately, I haven’t spent much time watching the Raptors this year, so I don’t have a lot of perspective on this team other than what I saw the other night and during all those Sunday 1:00 o’clock tip-offs that I half watch while trying to shake a hangover. Honestly, they just sort of bore me. And since Bosh is probably bolting south of the border come Summer time, it sort of feels like a lame duck year in the T-Dot. So I just haven’t been paying attention.
Sam Holako of Raptors Republic, however, has a much more nuanced take of the team and has been covering it all year. And luckily for us, he was nice enough to stop by to share his dino wisdom. Below is a Q&A we did. Also, I returned the favor and answered a few questions on the Pacers generally and tonight’s game specifically for him as well. So be sure to stop by Raptors Republic and check out more from me and Sam over there.
Jared: An underrated story of late is that your Raptors are 15-5 since December 18, making it one of the most successful teams in the whole league over the past six weeks. What has been working so well over the last 20 games that wasn’t during the first 28?
Sam Holako: A few key things happened during this stretch:
Bargnani has really stepped up his play. He is rebounding better and scoring more efficiently, but most of all, his defense in the post has been shockingly good from where it was — just ask Tim Duncan and Dwight Howard.
Jose Calderon lost his starting role due to injury, but is proving to be far more effective coming off the bench since he has returned. He also is a team player and will do whatever it takes to win, so the move to the bench doesn’t bruise his ego as much as it would others.
When the Raptors go to their bench, there is real production. Marco Belinelli and Sonny Weems are very aggressive on offense, Antoine Wright has been playing great defense at the 2/3, and Amir Johnson is a beast.
Jared: Hedo had a big game last week against the Knicks, dropping 26 points and 11 rebounds. And more importantly (to me anyway) is that he gave us the best postgame quote for the year with “Ball.” I think it’s safe to say that the Turkoglu acquisition wasn’t looking great at the beginning of the year. How about now?
Sam Holako: It’s still not looking great, but it isn’t ALL his fault. Hedo is the kind of player who needs the ball to be effective, and Triano is finding it hard to effectively use Hedo in a rotation where the point guards (Jarrett Jack and Calderon) also need it in their hands. His postgame quote was not only epic, but indicative of what it will take for him to get back to the levels he played at with the Magic. He isn’t helping the cause by not attempting to adapt to a new team/concept/style of play. Doesn’t look like a great signing, all things considered.
Jared: Amir Johnson looked very good the other night and that alley-oop was ridiculous. Discuss.
Sam Holako: Amir Johnson is a favorite of everyone. He’s one of those blue-collar guys who gets in the game and battles like a warrior. He is very aggressive, very athletic, reasonably consistent and gets after it. His only knock is that he gets something like 6.8 fouls per 36 minutes, which affects his minutes depending on how quickly he picks them up. When he plays in control, like he did Sunday against the Pacers (1 foul in 20 minutes of play), the guy is playing himself into a full mid-level contract at the end of the year.
Jared: Pacer fans aren’t going to get to see DeMar DeRozan in either game, but he has been playing pretty well. What type of player do you expect him to be around this time next year? Also, I have him winning the Dunk Contest. Is that correct?
Sam Holako: DeRozan is an interesting kid. We haven’t had an athlete like him since Vince Carter, but he is very raw. His jumper has improved significantly since the start of the year, but his career will be made on how aggressively he attacks the rim off the dribble. The guy is a gym rat and is always practicing, so it will come — just a matter of when. Truthfully, I see him as a poor man’s Vince Carter; he isn’t quite as explosive, but he will be a solid starting shooting guard in the league. The Dunk Contest is just a formality to make Nate Robinson feel important. DeRozan takes it.
Jared: Lastly, how depressing is it that Bosh is definitely leaving this Summer? Or are you still holding out some hope?
Sam Holako: I have always contended that he was going to resign with the Raptors unless they were just God-awful. With the Raptors trailing the Celtics by only 3 games in the division (and sitting in 5th place in the East), things are looking up. With the CBA up at the end of next season, he can’t afford to leave the $30 million or so on the table if he resigns with another team. The only way I thought he wouldn’t be a Raptor come next season is if in fact he does have a pact with Wade/LeBron to play together, in which case, Toronto wouldn’t be the destination for that grouping of talent with our cap situation and all. At the end of the day, the Raptors are HIS team, and Toronto HIS city; if he leaves to join Wade/LeBron, he loses that.
Condolences and thoughts go out to Jimmy’s family.
UPDATE: It was Jean Ramsay, O’Brien’s mother-in-law and wife of the legendary coach Dr. Jack Ramsay, who passed. She had been battling Alzheimer’s disease for much of the decade, according to USA Today.
Multiple sources said Denver’s longstanding pursuit of Indiana’s Jeff Foster is over because he’s likely to require surgery for his injured back and miss the rest of the season.
More crappy news from a crappy season.
(UPDATE 2:A tweet from Mike Wells suggests that surgery is not imminent: “Foster to fly to LA later this week to get another opinion on his back.”)
(UPDATE 3: The next morning, Mike Wells had this add on his blog: “Foster, who hasn’t played since the middle of December, will likely need surgery at some point, it’s just a matter of when he decides to do it. Don’t expect to see Foster play again this season.”)
This also likely spells more bad news for any Pacer fans hoping that Troy Murphy will get dealt to the Cavs — or anyone else — since the team is now probably going to have an extended stretch without the services or either Foster or Tyler Hansbrough, whose bout with an inner ear infection has left him with a troubling case of dizziness/vertigo that is unlikely to subside any time soon. I don’t think anyone within Indy’s front office sees Murphy as long-term fixture of the franchise, but a front court decimated by injuries will make it a little harder to part with one of the two guys (Murphy and Hibbert) who have produced at the big man spot.
As for Jeff, this sounds like a tough recovery for someone his age (he just turned 33). Jeff signed a contract extension just before the start of the 2008-09 and will make $6.5 million next season, which is the last year on his deal. I’m not a doctor, but, presumably, if he does have surgery, he would be able to make it back in time for the start of next season. Depending on his ability to rebound and other teams’ concern about the injury, he might now be more difficult to put into any trade, but as long as he can be on the court, he will probably retain at least most of his uncanny ability to rebound. And regardless, he will be an expiring contract that should be movable in a Matt Harpring way at the very worst.
UPDATE: Here are the details on the Harpring deal.
By sending injured Matt Harpring’s expiring $6.5 million contract to Oklahoma City along with Maynor, who makes $1.32 million, for the draft rights to Peter Fehse (who likely never will play in the NBA), the Jazz saved $7.82 million in luxury tax for the season.
Had the Jazz not made the deal, the team would have paid a total of about $13 million for the salaries and luxury tax for Harpring and Maynor, which includes getting back about $2.6 million insurance on Harpring, out for the rest of the season.
By making the deal, the Jazz only is responsible for approximately $2.7 already paid to Harpring and Maynor and the amount paid for a 13th player the team must add to fill out the roster, With that player likely to make about $500,000 the rest of the season, which is the pro-rated sum of the $825,497 minimum, and then adding the luxury tax on the player, that’s about $1.3 million. Subtract $4 million from $13 million and the Jazz save about $9 million.
Something like that wouldn’t be ideal, obviously, but if owner Herb Simon is serious about staying well below the luxury tax next season, it would at least be one cost-cutting option.
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State of the Pacers
16-30 (.348)
11th in the Eastern Conference
4th in the Central Division
Record (last five)
2 - 3
Record (last ten)
5 - 5
Record (home)
10 - 12
Record (away)
6 - 18
Streak
Lost 1
Scoring Margin
-4.84 (28th)
Pace
97.6 (2nd)
Offensive Stats
Offensive Rating
101.2 (27th)
Points Per Game
98.9 (18th)
Effective Field Goal %
47.5% (25th)
Field Goal %
43.2% (28th)
3PT Attempts/Game
22.0 (6th)
3PT %
32.9% (26th)
FT Attempts/Game
25.3 (13th)
FT %
76.6% (13th)
FT/FGA
.231 (15th)
Turnovers/Game
14.9 (27th)
Turnover %
14.2% (24th)
Off Rebounds/Game
10.3 (22nd)
Off Rebound %
22.8% (29th)
Assists/Game
20.3 (20th)
% of FGs Assisted
56.3% (16th)
Defensive Stats
Defensive Rating
106.8 (16th)
Points Per Game
104.4 (25th)
Effective Field Goal %
49.0% (10th)
Field Goal %
45.4% (13th)
3PT %
36.6% (25th)
FT Attempts/Game
30.7 (30th)
FT/FGA
.278 (29th)
Turnovers/Game
14.2 (14th)
Turnover %
13.4% (18th)
Def Rebounds/Game
32.4 (5th)
Def Rebound %
74.1% (12th)
Blocks/Game
6.0 (4th)
Steals/Game
6.7 (25th)
(last updated: 01/22)
2009-10 Game Results
Game #1 - Atlanta
L - Pacers 109 | Hawks 120
Pace: 100
Off Eff: 109.0 | 120.0
eFG%: 60.3% | 56.9%
FG%: 53.4% (39/73) | 52.9% (46/87)
MVP: Danny Granger | 31 pts (10/18), 4 reb, 1 blk
