What happened in this game is largely irrelevant. It was a glorified exhibition that dozens of fans in Bankers Life Fieldhouse got to see their favorite team win. But I think it was an excellent penultimate game of the regular season for the Pacers both physically and psychologically.

The physical part is obvious: George Hill and Danny Granger were both a little banged up and they didn’t have to play while Roy Hibbert is a giant human being who got to rest (and certainly has some bumps and bruises of his own). In order to get out of the second round, Indiana will need to play four near-perfect games, and for this roster, that means high-level contributions from at least seven, if not more like nine, guys. So the better everyone’s body feels, the better chance — in theory — they have of making that happen.

The second part is psychological. And it’s probably more important.

Again, to exceed expectations, Indiana needs everyone to play well. And given their lack of superstar power, it will also help if everyone is of a similar “us agains the world” mentality. The most potentially delicate balance in that regard is the fact that the team just demoted its starting point guard. Frank Vogel needs that to be a decision Darren Collison can live with while still contributing. Hopefully, by keeping DC coming off the bench tonight, Vogel showed him that this move is less a demotion and more about optimizing the personnel and having a high-functioning second unit. That could help him truly believe, even if ever so slightly, that this is similar to the roles accepted by guys like Manu in San Antonio, Ray Allen in Boston, Jamal Crawford in Atlanta, Lamar Odom in Los Angeles. It’s just what is the best role for him to take as this team heads into the playoffs. (Although the team is really going to need him to play better in said role once the regular season ends. Yikes. He was ugly out there.)

Second, it’s great to get minutes for AJ Price, Jeff Pendergraph, Kyrylo Fesenko and Dahntay Jones, who himself was formally demoted out of the playoff rotation recently. These guys, with perhaps the exception of Jones, likely won’t have any significant on-court impact on the playoffs. But they are members of this team and will be there for all the shootarounds, plane trips and halftime speeches. So to whatever degree they can actually feel invested in the team’s upcoming postseason run, the better. A guy like Pendergraph likely feels like he is on the outside looking in so getting his first career start so close to the end of the regular season will likely make him feel more a part of the team’s success. The fact that they got run in a win only makes it more galvanizing.

Lastly, I think it will help David West and especially Paul George to get have gotten some live NBA minutes playing a role in which they were forced to be more aggressive. Each defers a little more than they probably should. So to play every minute of a game feeling like they not only have the green light but should actually force a few shots — not for selfish reasons but because it will help the team — can’t hurt either. I mean, when else has George gotten 15 free-throw attempts in a game before? Who knows if that mentality of “I”m actually better than most guys” will carry over when the team could benefit from an individual making a play in the second round. But, again, it is unlikely to have any detrimental effect.

So, sure, all this is coming from some idiot sitting at a desk playing armchair psychologist, which he knows is dumb. But it was a nice win earned in a way that could have some nice residual affects throughout the roster. Ultimately, I think Vogel was playing some chess here and came up with an excellent lineup that maybe, just maybe maximized the value his team got out of what was otherwise as meaningless a victory as is possible in this league.

Here is how each guy played individually tonight. Agree? Disagree? Express your thoughts below in the comments or yell at me (@8pts9secs) or Tim (@TimDonahue8p9s) on Twitter.

	David West, PF 28 MIN | 9-19 FG | 2-2 FT | 5 REB | 20 PTS Took a lot of shots and now has 20+ points in his last 3 games. This from a guy who had only done so 5 times prior this season. He’s now averaging 15 ppg on 55% in April. Nice time to start getting your score on.
	Dahntay Jones, 23 MIN | 2-7 FG | 1-1 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 6 PTS Ya know, just Dahntayin’ around out there. Played fine.
	Jeff Pendergraph, 18 MIN | 5-10 FG | 7 REB | 1 AST | 2 BLK | 10 PTS Possible Hall of Famer. Nice first career start for the kid.
	A.J. Price, G 17 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 6 AST | 2 PTS OK.
	Paul George, 6-15 FG | 13-15 FT | 10 REB | 4 AST | 3 STL | 27 PTS Beastly. Definitely the best preseason performance of his career.

	Leandro Barbosa, 4-11 FG | 4-5 FT | 9 REB | 2 AST | 4 STL | 13 PTS Sure did fill up that stat sheet. And nice for him to see the ball go through the hoop a few times, I reckon.
	Louis Amundson, 16 MIN | 1-5 FG | 0-4 FT | 5 REB | 2 PTS Not so good.
	Tyler Hansbrough, 4-10 FG | 5-5 FT | 8 REB | 1 AST | 13 PTS Played very well at times while his grandpappy Psycho Pop Pop watched courtside.
	Darren Collison, 31 MIN | 1-8 FG | 2-2 FT | 3 REB | 4 AST | 4 PTS Ouch.
	Kyrylo Fesenko, C 6 MIN | 1-2 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 4 PTS He’s a house.
	Lance Stephenson, 10 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0 REB | 0 AST | 2 PTS Nice to see him out there again. I suppose.

It looks like Frank Vogel is going with the ol’ “Triple Popovich” tonight, according to Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz. The Pacers will let three of their starters rest as Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert and George Hill will all be taking the night off.

This makes sense. The Knicks beat the Hawks yesterday and that clinched the 3 seed for the Pacers. So they are playing for nothing tonight aside from the right to tell their grandchildren that they beat the mighty 2012 Detroit Pistons. The Pacers no longer control their destiny in the sense that what they do will no longer affect who they play in the first round. With Dwight Howard off for the the playoffs after having season-ending back surgery, they obvious want to play Orlando, regardless of whether anyone from the team says so or not.

And with one more win by the Magic (which host the lowly Bobcats on Wednesday) or one more loss by the Knicks (which host the Clippers Wednesday), the first round will feature an Indiana/Orlando series — which should be a cake walk for the Pacers.

• New Year’s Eve 2011: The night Jonas Jerebko became Detlef Schrempf. As mentioned in the Post-Game Grades, the floodgates opened when David West allowed the big Swede to get two uncontested layups. Later, he was sticking threes and generally causing havoc all over. He shot 57% and scored 20 points on 14 shots while grabbing 12 boards. Just look at his shot chart. Good to see him healthy though.

• One possession in the second quarter, about 7 minutes before the half, summed up Lance’s game — and, really, his whole pro career. At the top of the key, he nearly dribbled the ball into a sloppy turnover. But he was athletic enough to beat two defenders to the loose ball. He then took one more dribble right and saw an open shooter on the wing. He stared right at him and looked like he was going to make the safe swing pass. Instead, he threw a gorgeous, rifle pass inside to Tyler Hansbrough. It was Mark Jackson-level vision delivered at Brett Farve velocity. Hansbrough caught it in rhythm, turned to go up strong and … missed the layup. All in one play, Lance looked Born Ready for the D-League and like an NBA All-Star. And none of it amounted to anything that affected the scoreboard.

• Via Pacers.com writer Conrad Brunner: “Starters outscored 46-28, outrebounded 18-12 in 1st half as Pacers trail 52-44 in Detroit.”

• Late in the first half, the Pacers hit back-to-back jumpers (West from 18 feet and a Collison with catch-and-shoot trey) followed by an acrobatic Paul George coast-to-coast layup (plus a foul) to bring some seeming respectability back to Indy’s offense. This 8-2 run reinvigorated the team headed into the locker room, which was nice. But it took these three buckets — and a 35-foot Granger three with the shot clock expiring 90 seconds later — for Indiana to raise their FG% to 36.8% for the half. Take these away three buckets in the final 3 minutes of the half and the Pacers shot 10-for-34 (29.4%) in the half. Basketball is a game of runs and all that, but if your offense spends its first 21 minutes shooting at a clip that wouldn’t even get you into the Baseball Hall of Fame — against the Detroit Pistons of all teams — there are some real problems. And they go deeper than lazy shot selection.

• The bad news is that, after a 4-for-11 shooting night, David West is now shooting 18-for-49, or 36.7%, on the season. The worse news is that this figure is barely even hurting the team’s overall shooting percentage, which now sits at a blistering 38.5% — good for league worst. And the worstest news is Indiana has yet to shoot 40% from the floor in any of its four games. (The Pacers other marquee off-season acquisition, George Hill, isn’t off to a hot start either, shooting just 39.5% through four games. In fairness, as Tim Donahue texted me during the game, “I doubt that it’s completely their fault.”)

• Pacers play-by-play announcer Chris Denari in the mid-third quarter: “This is one of those nights where Paul George reminds me of last year. Just not as aggressive as he was in games one and two.”

• New Jersey lost to the Cavs tonight to fall to 1-4 on the year. They only managed to score 33 points in the second half. This, compared to the 30 points Cleveland scored in the 3rd quarter. And the Nets will be on a back-to-back tomorrow night when they face the Pacers. That’s good news for Indiana at least.

The Pacers proved something everyone already knew: You can’t shoot below 40% from the field for four games and go 4-0. This 96-88 loss was well-earned through atrocious offensive execution and nonchalant defensive effort. Feel free to praise these guys for their too-little-too-late near-comeback in the fourth, but it never should have gotten to that point. The Pacers were punched in the mouth in the opening minutes of the game and they never bothered to fight back.

According to Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star, the team’s flight was late getting to Detroit last night due to weather so they never arrived at their hotel until 4 am. That, however, cannot explain this. It was an ugly loss that the team hopes it can leave behind in the Old Year as it gears up for a trip to New Jersey to play the Nets on Monday.

Express your thoughts below in the comments of yell at me on Twitter @8pts9secs.

Indiana Pacers 88 – Detroit Pistons 96

DARREN COLLISON   4/6 FG (5/6 FT) | 15 PTS | 8 AST It’s hard to criticize his offense when he scored 15 points on just 6 FGAs. But that’s part of the problem: when the rest of his team is floundering so badly, Darren needs to call his own number more often. PGs can control a game in many ways, and tonight, Indy needed even more scoring from its floor general.
PAUL GEORGE   2/5 FG | 7 PTS | 4 AST | 3 STL | +7  George was a no-show for the second straight game. He did help spark the late “faux comeback” (term patent-pending) with his defense and was the only Pacer with a plus/minus so that counts for something. Not in his 8p9s grade, mind you, but for something somewhere else from someone.
DANNY GRANGER   4/15 FG | 11 PTS | 3 STL | +0 Danny was miserable. He has one positive stretch where he posted up Prince to get FTs then, on the other end, battled a posting Tayshaun on the block to force a bad shot. But he followed that up with a bad step-back jumper in isolation and a defensive lapse leading to a Prince three.
DAVID WEST   4/11 FG | 10 PTS | 5 REB | 3 AST | -6  Larry Bird’s marquee offseason acquisition has now shot 18-for-49 as Pacer. Good for a scorching 36.7%. Worse still, he got caught napping badly twice in the 1st quarter, leading to two layups by Jonas Jerebko, who scored 8 points in the first 6 minutes of the game and 16 in the half.
ROY HIBBERT  4/7 FG | 9 PTS | 5 REB | 3 TO | -10  Roy Hibbert allegedly played 25 minutes tonight but I’m struggling to remember even three positive plays he made. After a terrible game, his three-game double-double streak comes to end. And his single-single streak begins.

GEORGE HILL  7/11 FG | 16 PTS | 5 REB | -4  There is one silver lining from this abysmal game: George Hill’s streak of terrible shooting ended. The backup guard finally found his groove, finishing well in transition and playing his typical solid defense.
TYLER HANSBROUGH  5/14 FG (6/7 FT) | 16 PTS | 5 REB In addition to making one of the most quixotic plays I have seen in 25 years of watching NBA hoops (more on this soon), Tyler again missed a ton of shots. But he was more agressive than anyone else and led the team in scoring, so he wasn’t that bad by comparison to his mates.
DAHNTAY JONES  1/4 FG | 4 PTS | 2 BA | -7 Dahntay tries his heart out. He started off the 4th by missing a three, driving hard to the hoop through traffic (earning two FTAs) and missing another long two. None of this was particularly effective, but at least he was doing something. His aggressiveness was probably what sparked the faux comeback.
LOU AMUNDSON   2/2 FT | 2 PT | 2 REB | 4 PF | -7 Big Lou had two really nice blocks and caused a little chaos while he was on the floor. None of it was pretty, but that’s his job.
LANCE STEPHENSON  0/2 FG | 0 PT | 1 AST | 1 TO | -7 Lance missed three shots and got an assist during his 7 minutes on the floor. So, ya know, at least he didn’t get a Moonlight Graham box score.

Last night, the Pacers demolished the Pistons in their season-opener. The team didn’t play perfectly, and the lopsided victory was likely as much a result of the home team’s exuberant aggressiveness and the opponent’s general terribleness as it was due to the Pacers play. As a group, the team shot poorly. But that’s essentially expected of this franchise these days, particularly in the first game of a truncated schedule that featured a “preseason” of two exhibition warm-up games.

When we look at the individual play, there isn’t much to find fault with. But we can try

And that — along with praising players who excel — is what we plan to start doing here at 8 Points, 9 Seconds after each game. Below, you can find our first installment of Pacers Post-Game Grades.

Indiana Pacers 91 – Detroit Pistons 79

DARREN COLLISON   3/11 FG | 8 PTS | 5 AST | 2 TO | +11 The speedy point guard was solid if unspectacular. Collion’s accuracy needs to improve but it wasn’t the result of bad shot selection. Offense wasn’t the story here though. What was most impressive was Darren’s willingness to stay in front of his man. He still had some lapses but there appeared to be fewer possessions where his man got by Collison as he lost focus.
PAUL GEORGE   3/8 FG | 12 PTS | 7 REB | 5 PF | +14  George was more aggressive than any other perimeter player Indiana put on the floor and didn’t miss a shot in the first half. On the other end, the now-6’10 “guard” paired his length with his quick feet to disrupt shooters and would-be penetrators alike. This combo provided the highlight of the night, when PG blocked a jumpshot, gathered the deflection and went coast-to-coast for a lay-up.
DANNY GRANGER   6/18 FG | 16 PTS | 2 STL | +16  At the start, Danny looked like the worst Pacers starter. But after getting fouled while muscling for a defensive board with the team in the bonus, he shook off some rust. He hit the pair of FTs then knocked down a long, step-back jumper. After this 1-for-6 shooting 1st quarter, things were better but a few poor passes cancel out some nice pick-and-roll decision making.
DAVID WEST   3-12 FG | 11 PTS | 12 REB (7 ORB)| +14  David West couldn’t hit water from a boat but it hardly mattered. In fact, it helped. His effort attacking the offensive glass was contagious and appeared to be the catalyst to all three Pacers big men tallying double doubles. Roy Hibbert said as much to Mike Wells after the game. “David set the tone for all of us out there … We made a commitment to get on the boards. He led us and we followed behind.”
ROY HIBBERT  6/11 FG | 16 PTs | 14 REBs | 3 BLK | +15  Hibbert sure does like the beginning of the season. The man who seemed the runaway favorite for Most Improved Player last November is off to another good start. Roy put his stamp on the game much more than he did in the preseason. That could be because Detroit doesn’t employ Joakim Noah, but the numbers here — and the effectiveness of his pick-and-rolls — speak for themselves.

TYLER HANSBROUGH  6/14 FG | 15 PTS | 13 REB | -5  Tyler punished anyone in his way and helped prove Coach Vogel’s claim that no team’s front court will want to face his big-man reserves. @KingSamShockley said it best: “Tyler works out in the offseason by attaching a Volvo to his back and shooting hook shots.” Defensive rotations remain an issue but the kid made up with it by Altered Beastin’ all over the court.
GEORGE HILL  2/7 FG | 4 PTS | 4 ASTs | 2 STL | 1 TO | -2  George Hill’s first 24 minutes on the court in his home town were unmemorable. The crowd cheered wildly as his name was announced in pre-game, however, and that certainly helped fuel the team to a good early start in front of a raucous Bank Life Fieldhouse. He will have better games as a Pacer but hearing his name over the PA that first time is something he likely will never forget.
DAHNTAY JONES  3/6 FG (1/1 3PT) | 7 PTS | 1 BLK | -4 If Dahntay can replicate these 12 mins in every game, the Pacers will be well off. He was his aggressive, defensively stingy self, which can be energizing — and even effective — in short bursts. If the rest of the wing rotation plays poorly enough that Jones has to do anything more than that, however, his tenacity will start to show its flaws.
LANCE STEPHENSON  2 FT | 2 PT | 1 AST | 1 STL | +1  Sample size makes grading Lance’s performance difficult, but in game one he displayed basically everything that has been said about him. He made a few nice passes and showed his effortless talent. He also made some sloppy errors and appeared more capable of dominating the ball than a game of pro basketball. The only real takeaway is that he got some time on the court.

The Pacers just smoked the Pistons. To discuss the details, me and cohort Tim Donahue are attempting to connect via the wonders of the world wide web to talk live about what we saw. The below feed is likely to be rife with technical difficulties, but what the heck — we’re just going to give this a shot anyway. If it’s a colossal failure, I promise to send you all your money back.

We go live at 11:10 pm EST. Click here to watch/listen if you can’t see the embedded player below.

All of the team’s primary big men got double-doubles; Roy Hibbert scored 16 with 14 boards, Tyler Hansbrough finished with 16 and 13 off the bench, and offseason pickup David West tallied 11 and 12 in his first game as a Pacer. These guys were just relentless on the glass, and that’s exactly how you out-class your opponent so drastically on a night when you only shoot 36.8% from the floor yourselves.

Nobody personified both ends of this spectrum as much as West.

He struggled to connect from the interior in the first half, missing 6 of the 8 shots he took and blowing several good possessions with his inability to finish. But he didn’t lose focus. He didn’t concede to the fact that it just wasn’t his night. He made it his night. Or, more accurately, he made it his team’s night. Exhibit A: West ended the half with 6 offensive boards (and 9 total).

This stat alone marks a major qualitative difference from the offensive futility we have seen out of this offense in recent years. Too often, Pacer players make a mistake and adopt a “woe is me” attitude. West messed up plenty but instead refused to let a miss be the final outcome of the possession. He went and got the board. He went back up strong. (And he is STRONG.) He re-gathered and kicked it to a teammate in a better position to score. He tried his hardest to atone for his errors. In doing so, David West showed Pacers fans that he is a perfect cocktail of strength, finesse and maturity. He is the mint julep of power forwards.

This (sorry for this word) stick-to-it-iveness represents a non-acceptance of failure that this team has sorely lacked for years. We will see over time if this attitude can permeate the rest of the team, but it was certainly already present from the Pacers new power forward in the first half of the first game he ever played for the franchise.

After the bigs, the best signs of better things to come came from Paul George. Like West, he made his share of mistakes, losing the ball on the first play of the game and making several head-scratching passes, for instance. And like West, he didn’t let these errors get to him. It didn’t seem to be maturity or professionalism that guided his actions, however.

No, Paul George seemed to be spurred by a commitment to aggressiveness. Early on, this new-found mindset was apparent.

Last season, George’s default offensive setting was passivity. He was rarely involved in plays and spent most of his time standing around. When things broke down or — more often — in transition, Pacers fans saw flashes of his instincts and athleticism, but the on-court evidence that he could become a high-level scorer was sparse.

Tonight, on the contrary, George pressed. Less than four minutes in, he found himself in an unfamiliar situation: being the ball-handler in a pick-and-roll at the top of the key. He used the screen and slow-dribbled to his left. Without hesitation, when he saw his man sag, he pulled up from three. He stuck it.

About a minute later, George found himself in the mid-post with the ball. He tried to turn and face but was thwarted and instead spun baseline and took a fadeaway jumper. It wasn’t a great shot and it’s one that the efficiency-is-everything crowd often criticizes guys like Kobe for taking. But George goaded his defender into over-challenging and used his length to be un-phased by the defense. The defender was too aggressive and fouled. Again, this isn’t a great shot, but it represents the new mentality of George. Not only is he now more willing to be aggressive in situations that demand it; he is also willing to try to make something out of nothing.

In the second quarter, he didn’t hesitate on a catch-and-shoot three. By half time, Paul George had scored 10 points to the lead the team. And he did in on just two field goals attempts (hitting the two three-pointers while going a perfect 4-for-4 from the line). The tangible passivity we saw when he had that ball as a rookie seemed gone. The second half, even as the game turned into a laugher, featured George being aggressive enough to be called for a (dubious) offensive foul while attacking the rim and a high-light reel play that perfectly illustrated his potential to emerge as a two-way beast in this league.

He closed out on a jump-shooter taking a long two and used his Stretch Armstrong length to swat the ball out the air like a Scud missile. George wasn’t done though. He caught the carom and took off down court to lead a fast break. The Pacers had numbers and he could have passed it off, likely for an uncontested layup or at least an easy jumper for a teammate. But … nah. He took it right to the cup himself and laid it in.

Hibbert, Tyler, Danny Granger (at times) and even the guards all did a lot tonight that deserves more discussion. But the two main things that will help the Pacers emerge as one of the better teams in the East is David West bringing some offensive punch and Paul George becoming a true threat. Tonight, we saw both of those things.

And that, more than blowing out a team that might be among the worst in the league, is what Pacers fans should be excited about.

Other thoughts

• In addition to all the intangibles bandied about above, there were two reasons Indy was able to win going away despite their 36.8% shooting: they recovered a ton of those missed shots (grabbing 18 offensive boards to Detroit’s 31 defensive boards), and they made their threes (hitting 7 of 15, including 6 of 10 from their starting perimeter players Granger, George and Collison).

• Danny started off shaky but got going a little bit a after a getting fouled while gathering a defensive board. Indy was in the bonus so Danny got to walk down to the other end and hit two free-throws. He hit a pull-back jumper the next trip down the court. He had his ups and downs after that, but looked positively reincarnated on one pick-and-roll. It was the second straight encouraging PnR run by Indy so I’ll start by telling the backstory. On the first play, George dribbled to the left wing off a Hibbert screen and found a rolling Roy with a nice pass at the free-throw line. Two defenders jumped in front of the big fella and he kicked out a perfect pass to Collison in the corner for a three. On this second one, Danny drove hard right towards the rim with Hibbert again being the screen. Granger entered a congested middle but rather than force a tough, contested shot, he dumped the ball to a sneakily rolling Roy, who dunked the ball without dribbling as he was fouled. The one major downside to Granger’s game (other than a few sloppy brainfarts on offense) was that he remains over-interested in deflections, steals and blocks while playing defense. He has retained that swipe-at-anything mentality that fills up the stat sheet but too often comes at the expense of getting good position and forcing his man to simply take a tough shot.

• The Pacers recorded assists on 20 of their 32 field goals. That’s sharing the ball.

• While fighting for a loose ball, Tyler Hansbrough nearly ripped Will Bynum’s arm out of its socket like a GI Joe doll. Bynum was whistled for a foul. This is exactly the guy Indy needs off the bench. Mr. Bro Hands also made a slick little running hook shot at one point and stuck a nice baseline jumper on a kick-over from a driving David West. If Hansbrough and West can both be knock-down shooters from the mid-range, the spacing of this offense has the chance to give Roy Hibbert a ton of one-on-one chances in the post.

• The state of Indiana loves them some George Hill.

On nights like these it’s easy to envision the Pacers as a worthy playoff team, despite their 34-42 record. Play well and the Pacers should easily be able to steal a game in a likely first round match-up against Chicago. Pushing a Chicago series to five games would be a noteworthy accomplishment for this group and set the franchise on the right path for the future. With the impending cap room the Pacers are about to enjoy this would be the icing on the cake.

All seems right with the world. The Pacers just spanked the Pistons. They continue to have a one-game lead for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Keep playing like this and the regular season business will soon turn into the postseason bonus.

Which makes the cynic in me wonder — based on how things have gone this season — how far does the pendulum now swing in the other direction?

A quick glance at the Pacers closing schedule shows that there aren’t many teams like Detroit left on the slate. In fact, I count only one sure win, next Wednesday against Washington. It all starts with a game against Milwaukee, which will be looking at a last gasp effort on Friday to stay in the playoff race by beating the Pacers.

Here’s the Pacers remaining schedule:

Friday, April 1 – Milwaukee (30-44)
Sunday, April 3 – at New Orleans (42-32)
Wednesday, April 6 – Washington (18-56)
Friday, April 8 – Atlanta (42-32)
Sunday, April 10 – New York (36-38)
Wednesday, April 13 – at Orlando (47-28)

While things look a little daunting, it could be easier than anticipated if Atlanta, New York and Orlando all are locked into their playoff spots and decide that they have nothing to play for down the stretch.

On the surface, Charlotte has more games that they should win. Their closing schedule includes several bad teams in Washington, Cleveland, Detroit and New Jersey.

Here’s the Bobcats remaining schedule:

Friday, April 1 – at Orlando (47-28)
Sunday, April 3 – Washington (18-56)
Tuesday, April 5 – at Cleveland (15-59)
Wednesday, April 6 – Orlando (47-28)
Friday, April 8 – at Miami (52-23)
Sunday, April 10 – Detroit (26-48)
Monday, April 11 – at New Jersey (23-50)
Wednesday, April 13 – Atlanta (42-32)

Before their latest Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde routine, I really thought making the playoffs would be a relatively easy proposition for the Pacers. As Tim Donahue pointed out in recent article, the Pacers should have been home free after thoroughly dismantling the Bobcats last week.

Instead, they find themselves in a fight for their lives. Michael Jordan essentially made it public that Charlotte did not want to be the 7th or 8th seed in the East when he traded away his key pieces before the February deadline. Somehow, the Charlotte players ignored all that and have gone on to win four games in a row since the Pacers blew them out on their home court.

Meanwhile, the Pacers somehow managed to lose by double-digits to both Sacramento and Detroit before putting together a great effort to beat Boston.

The Pacers are a hard team to figure out. They have beaten teams they shouldn’t be able to beat, but they have lost in blowouts many more times to teams they should beat consistently.

If the Pacers recent trend of beating teams that are headed to the playoffs holds true, they should be in good shape. That would mean at least four wins down the stretch and the blue and gold would be playoff bound.

Given the wild swings of inconsistency this year, that is probably too much to ask …

But I’ll cross my fingers anyway.

It wasn’t the fact that I was in Detroit during Spring Break, the free throw shooting of my favored team or even the final result that upset me. The problem was the atmosphere of the game.

In a city far removed from its team’s latest championship, the Detroit crowd was lively and responsive. The Pistons played a good game — certainly helped by their opponent’s 7-of-19 performance from the free throw line — and the crowd fed them energy.

Why does it matter that Detroit had a good crowd on a Saturday night home game in March? Great question. I’m glad that you asked.

The real problem is that it was a more energetic game than any of the dozen that I have been to in Indianapolis all year. This came in the building of a team that is effectively out of the playoff race and has very few, if any, long term answers.

As the regular season draws to a close, and the postseason vaguely threatens to disappear entirely, it is not unreasonable to take a quick glance to the Pacers’ future.

Mike Dunleavy ($10.5 million), T.J. Ford ($8.5 million) and Jamaal Tinsley ($5.5 million) all have contributed about equal amounts since the switch to Frank Vogel, and all will be off the Pacers’ cap next year. This gives the team a considerable amount of wiggle room to sign new free agents to complement the assumed existing core of Darren Collison, Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert, Tyler Hansbrough and Paul George.

In a rapidly changing NBA, the question becomes: what will bring the players to Indiana?

We’ve seen from the recent migrations of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony that money isn’t enough in every circumstance. Oftentimes it comes down to the existing players on the roster (also known as the “Miami Cheat” or “LeBron White Flag”) or location (also known as “Carmelo Takes Denver Hostage”). Unfortunately, the Pacers really don’t have either advantage on their side.

Don’t get me wrong: I’ve lived in Indiana my entire life, and with the exception of a few months-long excursions to perfect my Spanish, I don’t expect to leave anytime soon. But I’m not an NBA free agent, the majority of whom aren’t from the Midwest.

So if money isn’t enough to bring a big-time free agent to Indianapolis, what’s getting him here?

See, the problem in Indiana may be the weather: the cold-weather tendencies of the winter and the fair-weather tendencies of the fans. The Colts even had some trouble selling out this year’s home playoff game initially, and the Pacers can’t get a full house without help from either LeBron or fans from Chicago.

If I’m an NBA player, I’ve noticed this in my past trips to Indiana over the years. I’m not entirely sure that I want to spend the next three to five years of my career playing in front of a Conseco Fieldhouse half-full of lethargic supporters. I don’t know what the small market of Indianapolis, a city where the bars close at 2:00 and the winter lasts a full three months, has to offer me other than a paycheck. I’m going to think twice about playing almost 50 games a year over six months in an arena in the self-proclaimed capital of basketball where the fans can’t match the energy level of a destitute team in a city that just set a national record for population decrease.

If you’re reading this thinking that sounds ridiculously immature and shortsighted, you may not completely understand the mind of a millionaire athletic phenomenon in his 20s.

On November 19, 2004, Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson ran into the stands at the Palace of Auburn Hills; the Pacers have never been relevant since. As I sat less than a hundred feet from that very spot six years and change later listening to an invigorated Detroit crowd celebrate a fundamentally meaningless victory, I worried about how my team could ever return to what it once was if the fans just don’t really care.

How did you spend your Saturday night? Danny Granger, Tyler Hansbrough, Roy Hibbert, Darren Collison, Paul George and a few other guys spent theirs losing by double-digits to Detroit, largely due to a terrible third quarter in which they turned the ball over 8 times and allowed the Pistons to go on a 20-3 run at one point.

The starters whose first name isn’t Tyler shot a combined 34.3% on 12-for-13 shooting. The starters whose first name is Paul played a combined 4 minutes in the first half because of foul trouble and only saw 12 minutes of action in total. No matter there really, however, as Brandon Rush came through with some hot shooting off the bench, sticking 4 of the 6 treys he took on his way to 19 points on 10 shots. It was Rush’s best scoring night since January 12. Nice evening for him. McRoberts played pretty good, t0o, flushing two alley-opps for 4 of his 8 points. He added 8 boards and was generally active in a good way in his 21 minutes.

Ultimately, you would think two good bench performances on the road would be enough to win in the Palace of Auburn Hills, the home of the NBA’s 7th worst team by record. Nope. Not a on a night when the starters barely made a dent on the score sheet.

This was Indiana’s 26th double-digit loss of the year, and it comes on the heels of a 17-point loss to a Sacramento team that currently has 19 wins and a poor showing (albeit in a win) against a New Jersey with 23 wins.

That’s all I’ll say on this one as you should just go read Tim’s recent and completely excellent breakdown of what’s increasingly looks like a broken team. All the same issues he raised were once again on display. And reading that will tell you a lot more about this team than me attempting to understand the reasons that these guys couldn’t stop Charlie Villanueva in the 4th quarter, anyone in the 3rd quarter or Rip Hamilton at any point in the game.

The Pacers play the Celtics on Monday.

Should be a barrel of fun.