It would be impossible to kick off the second half of the season any better. The Pacers ran the Warriors off the floor tonight, scoring 26 fast-break points (versus 9 for G-State) and 50 points in the paint (versus 38 for G-State) to fuel a blowout 102-78 victory that really wasn’t even as “close” as the score might suggest.

Danny Granger led the way both in scoring and being aggressive while Paul George showed the world he can do more than dunk while filling up the stat sheet. Roy Hibbert was a load down low as was Tyler Hansbrough off the bench. Not much else to analyze when a team like Golden State doesn’t even show up to play. The defense was stellar, holding the Warriors to 34.1% shooting and in the process making them the 12 opponent to hit less than 40% of its shots this season.

Making the other team shoot 3-for-22 from behind the arc while hitting 23 free throws of your own and recording 21 assists on 37 made baskets?

That will usually work.

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 - 30 MIN | 4-10 FG | 2-2 FT | 7 REB | 4 AST | 10 PTS Everyone …
	Danny Granger - 30 MIN | 9-18 FG | 6-6 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 25 PTS … destroyed …
	Roy Hibbert - 20 MIN | 6-10 FG | 9 REB | 2 AST | 3 BLK | 12 PTS … the …
	Darren Collison - 30 MIN | 4-9 FG | 3-4 FT | 4 REB | 5 AST | 11 PTS … Dubs …
	Paul George - 26 MIN | 4-7 FG | 9 REB | 5 AST | 4 STL | 11 PTS … equally …

	Jeff Foster - 12 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS … as …
	Dahntay Jones - 18 MIN | 2-3 FG | 4-4 FT | 3 REB | 9 PTS … Indiana …
	Louis Amundson - 12 MIN | 1-4 FG | 0-2 FT | 2 REB | 2 PTS … came …
	A.J. Price - 12 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 3 PTS … out …
	George Hill - 22 MIN | 1-6 FG | 0-2 FT | 0 REB | 2 AST | 2 PTS … of …
	Tyler Hansbrough - 16 MIN | 4-8 FG | 7-10 FT | 9 REB | 15 PTS … the …
	Jeff Pendergraph - 6 MIN | 1-3 FG | 4 REB | 0 AST | 2 PTS … break …
	Lance Stephenson - 6 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0 REB | 1 AST | 0 PTS … smoking.

Below are two really good screens that Hibbert set in the fourth that gave Pacers’ shooters wide-open looks. How’s your face feeling Dorell Wright?

But while any win on the road in the NBA is a good win, it seemed as though this one shouldn’t have needed the late-game theatrics. Indiana seemed to be out-playing Golden State, but never managed to get any separation on the scoreboard. In the fourth quarter, this was mostly because the Warriors’ dynamic backcourt duo of Monta Ellis and Steph Curry cared not for the Pacers’ excellent defense. Time and time again, they drilled improbably shots over the hands of those guarding them. A few times, George Hill was right in Monta’s grill but it mattered not. Ellis and Curry just continued the onslaught.

Until they didn’t.

Monta had the ball with under 20 seconds to play and the score tied. He wound down the clock and prepared to put a move on Hill to make something happen. He reared back for a crossover. And then Hill bent it like Beckham and took off the other way for a one-on-none layup, plus a futile foul from Curry as he finished.

Now down 3, the Warriors had one last chance and 2 seconds to tie it up. They ran a stellar inbounds play to free up Dell Curry’s son for a three he would probably hit 7-out-of-10 times in practice. But he missed. Badly.

Pacers win.

But watch the video below of all the tough shots the Dubs needed to keep it close enough to lose so spectacularly.

Indiana won tonight. And that was impressive considering Monta Ellis and Steph Curry put on a circus show of shot-making in the final minutes. The Pacers by no means dominated this game but they played well enough to win even despite the crazy buckets by those Warriors guards. Danny Granger was great early with 12 points in the first quarter and he hit a few huge shots in crunch time as well. George Hill hit two HUGER threes in the fourth and came up with an EVEN HUGER “steal” on the final possession of the game, kicking away a Monta dribble and taking it coast to coast for the layup and-one. Golden State had one last shot to tie it up after Hill put Indy up three but his good look turned into a near-airballl and the Pacers left with the W.

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 - 35 MIN | 7-12 FG | 4-5 FT | 7 REB | 4 AST | 18 PTS Beastly game for West. Perhaps his best statistical outing as a Pacer. Some mistakes late: a horrible jumper, for example. But he was making shots and that’s what they need for him.
	Danny Granger - 32 MIN | 10-16 FG | 3-4 FT | 3 AST | 26 PTS Great first quarter and sticking BIG shots late. That’s what you want out of the guy you expect your best offensive player.
	Roy Hibbert - 34 MIN | 5-9 FG | 16 REB | 4 AST | 10 PTS You still want him to get the ball more. And that’s not on him. But he did everything you would want him to do. 16 boards? Even against a small team, that’s BEAST MODE.
	Darren Collison - 39 MIN | 1-12 FG | 4 REB | 9 AST | 6 PTS The FG% says a lot but what was really troubling is that he allowed the G-State confusion to dominate the tempo of the game. Notably played excellent D on Steph Curry while Dell’s son was hitting circus shots.
	Paul George - 21 MIN | 2-8 FG | 3-4 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 7 PTS Played OK and defended well but wasn’t involved when it mattered because of George hill.

	Dahntay Jones - 16 MIN | 3-7 FG | 2 REB | 2 AST | 9 PTS Stuck a really nice three and made a crazy euro-step finish in transition that makes you wonder why he can’t be a better offensive player given his athletic gifts.
	Louis Amundson - 5 MIN | 0-3 FG | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS Meh.
	George Hill - 31 MIN | 5-9 FG | 3 REB | 1 AST | 14 PTS The best Pacer in the 4th quarter even if his steal was illegal. Stuck two big threes and stopped Monta when no one could. An incredible final period.
	Tyler Hansbrough - 21 MIN | 2-6 FG | 3 REB | 1 AST | 4 PTS Again, oddly didn’t affect the game much for a guy who usually does exactly that with effort alone even if he isn’t making shots.
	Lance Stephenson - 5 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 PTS Whatever.

Great stuff from Tom Lewis on Indy Cornrows setting up tonight’s Pacers game vs. the Warriors, which, as you should know, are now coached by Pacers legend Mark Jackson. If you didn’t see Mark in an Indiana uniform, you missed out. He was the definition of “floor general” and is arguably the best combination of pure point guarding and flashy passing this side of Magic Johnson and Jason Kidd.

In previewing he game, Lewis discusses the 800-lb gorilla now in the room: the Pacers offense against the zone. He links to this piece from Sactown Royalty’s Tom Ziller that breaks down every Indy possession against the Kings zone. And he notes that Golden State, as of three days ago, plays more zone than any other NBA team, implementing it on 10.3% of their defensive possessions, according to MySynergySports.

To recap: the team that plays the most zone tonight faces a team that just looked like the worst offense in history against a zone two days ago. I think we can go ahead and slot this in as a “Ruby Tuesday Hanes Her Way Key to the Game.”

Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star asked some of the team members why the Pacers played so poorly against the Kings’ zone.

“We just have to work on (our zone offense) more,” Pacers point guard Darren Collison said. “I think we were caught off guard. Still, no excuse. We were up pretty much the whole entire game. We know how to work against a zone.”

The team’s new power forward offered the following.

“It was kind of their last-ditch effort to try and junk the game up,” Pacers power forward David West said. “. . . They’re not a good defensive team. I don’t think they did anything overwhelmingly well. We just played into their hands.”

It will be interesting to see if the team handles it any better. Wells, among others, criticized Coach Frank Vogel for going small since it was presumably done to match the personnel the Kings put on the floor. It’s a fair criticism but, to me, it ignores the fact that Roy was a disaster against the zone during the 4:51 he did play in the fourth quarter.

Here are the possession breakdowns from Ziller directly involving Hibbert.

7. [Jason Thompson] stops Roy Hibbert in the post, but the loose ball squirts to Granger for an open jumper. MAKE. Thompson defended the ball beautifully, but bad bounces happen.

Going to the film, we can see that this was a rushed post move. Roy took a near-airball hook shot that missed the rim and hit only the opposite backboard. He gets no credit for the subsequent fracas that led to a Granger jumper amid chaos.

8. Cousins blocks Hibbert’s shot in the post; after an offensive rebound, Granger gets a quick but contested three. MISS. This was similar to the previous possession, except the Kings recovered well, balanced up and contested the shot. The Kings earned this empty possession twice.

Looking at the video, we see that this was Roy, who after three nice Pacers swing passes around the perimeter, catching the ball very open in the middle of the paint on a nice entry by Darren Collison. He could do nothing useful with it, despite having the undersized Cousins on his back, and did some drop-step, over-dribble, reverse layup thing that took long enough for a double to come over and bother his weak shot attempt.

9. Evans doubles down on Hibbert, who is backing down Cousins in the post, and forces a turnover. TURNOVER. Hibbert began the game schooling Cousins in the paint. Things turned all the way around in the fourth, and help down from the guards/wings certainly made a difference.

Again, if we watch the video, we see that the Pacers perimeter guys again did a decent job forcing the zone to move and react by swinging it to George on the wing. He tosses a nice entry to Roy with Cousins on his back deep in the post and the Indy lead now down to four (84-80 with 5:50 to play). Roy takes one dribble into the paint the spins back baseline with his head down. The outside defender hedges down, executes a simple dig and strips the ball from an apparently-not-paying-attention Hibbert. It bounces off his leg out of bounds. Kings ball.

The first two bad possessions from Hibbert there were bad moves. The third reflected what was more problematic: his seeming inability to know where the other defenders on the floor were. This time led directly to a turnover but he got a few other touches that looked similar. This isn’t a condemnation of the guy. He just hasn’t played against a zone much and his instincts aren’t well-formed enough for him to anticipate how the defenders will rotate. He was caught off guard.

Hopefully, the Pacers spent some time yesterday and in shootaround today discussing this stuff. It’s a forgivable sin to be caught off guard by something you didn’t expect and haven’t prepared for.

But if it happens again …

Unfortunately for Indiana, after they got out to comfortable lead in the second quarter, the Warriors surged. Golden States turned a double-digit deficit into a 9-point advantage with a 21-1 run before Brandon Rush hit a three to end an Indiana drought that seemingly started during the Cretaceous Period. Overall, Rush played a solid game with a few much-needed shots and well-timed defensive plays when his team needed it most.

When they had a chance to pull away early, the Pacers’ performance throughout the middle of the game was like Stephen Curry’s beard: something was just missing. But just when it looked like we might see a meltdown, the Pacers righted the ship in the third quarter. After going into the locker room down 3, the Pacers outscored the Warriors 37-25 in the period and were in control, entering the fourth with a 9-point lead.

A flurry of Fancy Paul George Moments (hereafter referred to as FPGMs) helped to keep the Warriors at bay despite a barrage of long-range jumpers, and the Pacers relied again on their stars to anchor. Danny Granger accounted for 10 points in the final five minutes, including going 8-for-8 from the stripe. (For the game, he was a super-impressive 16/16 from the line. This was his first time getting to the line 16 times since January 3, 2009.)

Golden State kept shooting, but when the NBA’s leading three-point shooter, Dorell Wright, missed a three, the game was over.

Coming off consecutive losses and staring down a three-game Texas road trip (OKC counts as Texas just as Canada counts as part of the United States), Indiana desperately needed a win. It’s been four seasons since the Pacers made the playoffs.

The road back will require many nights of just getting the job done. That’s what happened tonight and it should put the players in a much better frame of mind as they head out of the road — where they play 11 of their next 15 games.

Other thoughts

• Most people in Indiana remember Golden State head coach Keith Smart for his game-winning shot in the 1987 NCAA title game, but I was a fetus then. I’ll never forget the legendary day in Fort Wayne when he became the CBA’s all-time leading scorer

• Say what you will about his legal missteps or the graduation rate of his college choice, but no one gets in the lane and misses a point-blank shot quicker than Lance Stephenson.

Then, in the final two minutes of the game, the Pacers looked even worse. With the game tied at 105-105, Darren Collison traveled. It was a careless play in which he wasn’t even over-eager to get the hoop; he simply got himself in trouble picking up his job with nothing to do and dragged his pivot foot. Two possessions later, Danny Granger tried to hit a rolling Foster with a pass. It wasn’t even close. As @noamschiller said, “Danny Granger might have lost Indy the game, but in his defense, that fan was wide open.” If that wasn’t enough, Foster was again part of futility on the other end. Good Pacers defense forced Monta Ellis, who looked very much like an All-Star while scoring 36 points on 16/28 shooting, into a tough 16-footer. David Lee outplayed Foster for the board and kicked it out to Monta, who wouldn’t miss when given a second chance.

Despite this, the Pacers, who were now down 3, tied it up on a miraculous Collison lay-up and-one. But Monta stuck a pull-up dagger at the other end with the clock dwindling and Indy couldn’t get a good look at the hoop inbounding with only 0.6 left.

Another blown opportunity. Pacers lose 110-108.

The crunch-time failings will — and should — receive the bulk of the blame. But it’s meltdowns like the one to end the first half that really continue to perplex me. I’m not sure any team blows mid-game opportunities to demoralize the opponent more than Indy. If they had just stayed focused for two more minutes as they headed into the break, they could have easily been up by at least 9 and perhaps double-digits. Teams like the Warriors may fold in such situations — particularly if the Pacers would have used the first-half momentum they built by going on a 19-2 run at one point to do better than the 7-turnover, 5-for-16 shooting performance they gave in the third quarter.

A few other notes:

• Prior to tonight, AJ Price had played in 7 games this year yet he still entered the game before TJ Ford, who didn’t play a minute. In similar news, Josh McRoberts started tonight after playing a total of 15 minutes so far in 2011. Jim O’Brien’s lineups are clearly decided by a monkey, a dart and a dart board. It’s beyond troubling and just funny now. What could possibly go through this man’s mind is beyond me, especially when Conrad Brunner reported that the coach offered the following comment before the game: “When you lose a key guy like Roy you try not to change up your entire rotation.” James Posey also got only his third DNP of the season, and Solomon Jones, who actually hasn’t gotten many minutes since December, also sat out all 48.

• Perhaps also worth noting is that AJ Price was terrible. He had 3 turnovers to 1 assist and just generally dribbled around awkwardly and ineffectively way more than you would like to see.

• Danny Granger had a great first half. One of the best halves I’ve seen him play this season even. He made it a point to penetrate, getting into the paint often and keeping the defense guessing enough to give him room to shoot from the outside. Granger was even setting up teammates for buckets. But he got away from “good Danny” in the third quarter as he started trying to go bucket-for-bucket with Dorell Wright, who torched Indy all night. By the time his arguably game-losing turnover occurred, he had 7 for the game and sullied what could otherwise have been an uber-efficient 32 point, 13 rebound, 6 assist night on 11-for-19 shooting. Still a decent night and a great stat line, but highly tarnished.

• The aforementioned start for Josh McRoberts came alongside Tyler Hansbrough. I’m not going to lie; I was skeptical. But I actually rather enjoyed their time together on the court. Josh had a monster dunk early on a nice Granger dish and Tyler completed a highlight put-back dunk off a Mike Dunleavy missed layup. They brought energy and had the game taken place in Conseco, I think the crowd would have been going nuts. McRoberts played less than 20 minutes, however, and we were instead given a healthy dose of a Foster/Hansbrough big man lineup. I didn’t like that one very much. Foster finished with 15 boards though so he definitely helped out a lot — even while missing several layups, as expected.

• Darren Collison was back to being hesitant, only taking 11 shots in 32 minutes, which looks even more aggressive than it was considering that 3 of those FGAs came in the final 4 minutes of the game. I like the initiative late, but they needed more of it. In his defense, he did sit for way too long in the third quarter as Price dawdled around the court doing very little.

• As this season starts to feel increasingly downtrodden, the need to develop Paul George becomes paramount. This kid can be good. He is beginning to look comfortable out there. At one point he grabbed a board and dribbled coast-to-coast, getting himself to the line with a nice attempt near the paint. He played some good defense at times and would have had his fourth double-digit scoring night in his last 10 games had he been able to convert a should-have-been-easy-but-he-was-too-giddy alley-oop in the second half.

Play his song.

We will have something more to say about this later. But for now, this is all you need.

UPDATE: Here’s the actual tip in. (h/t @OutsideTheNBA who runs Outside the NBA)

UPDATE PART II: Tonight was the most animated we have seen Lil Dun get since The Night MDJ Took Off His Shirt. I think we can all agree that the tip-in celebration pales in comparison to this.

For Indiana, every win is bittersweet. Danny Granger is again looking like the unstoppable scorer he was last season, and after posting 33 points Tuesday in a 102-95 win over Sacramento, he has now put up at least 29 points in six of his past seven games. Furthermore, the franchise’s young talent, Roy Hibbert and Brandon Rush, are now producing consistently. And the whole team is finally playing the hard-nosed, fun-to-watch brand of basketball that made the state famous.

On the other hand, each win is lowering the Pacers’ hopes to draft the franchise-altering, blue-chip rookie that the team so badly needs to pair with Granger if it wants to return to respectability.

There are a few more paragraphs for you to check out over there on the matter, including a staggering comparison of the Pacers’ record over the past 10 games (7-3) to that of the seven other teams it is fighting with for a good draft pick (a collective 16-54 in their past 70 games). Yikes. One of these things is not like the other. (Only the Knicks and Warriors have even 4 wins in their last 10.)

Maurice Brooks also gave Danny his “Tuesday’s Best” award, which includes another little morsel of Pacers info.

UPDATE: Tim drops some knowledge and lends precise facts about the Pacers change in the standings over the past few weeks.

At the end of play on 3/15 (or morning paper, 3/16), the Pacers stood 5th in the Central (worst), 14th in the East (2nd worst), and 27th in the NBA (4th worst).

They’ve gone 7-2 since then, and, as of this morning, they stand 4th in the Central (2nd worst), 10th in the East (6th worst), and 21st in the NBA (10th worst).

During that stretch, they’ve gained 3 games against Philly, 3 1/2 against NYK & LAC, 5 1/2 against DET & SAC, and 6 1/2 against the Wiz.

Since that date, only PHO (7-0), CLE (6-1), ORL (5-1), and POR (4-1) have better records.

My more nuanced take on the whole matter is here if you missed it.

But my only real reaction to all this is “Yikes.”

UPDATE II: Chad Ford did a chat for ESPN today and had a few comments on the Pacers and tanking:

Tiffany (Indianapolis)
Is Jim O’Brien on the hot seat?

Chad Ford (1:17 PM)
As for O’Brien, he should be after killing the Pacers shot at John Wall. I’m all for playing hard every game. But, clearly he and the rest of the Pacers aren’t on the same page.

Dan (MN)
Based off of your Pacer’s comment, are you a supporter of teams intentionally tanking late in the year?

Chad Ford (1:20 PM)
Yes. The NBA gives them an incentive to do so. If tanking now gives me the chance to win MORE games next year, of course you do it. And I think the fans understand. What do you think Pacers fans want? Another three or four meaningless wins in late March/April or John Wall or Evan Turner?

Well, that sure was fun. Add one part another offensive no show for a full half with one part another 24-minute scoring outburst by the opposition, and voila’…

Same soup, just reheated.

We’re too far removed from the game for this recap to be meaningful. But had I written it last night, I actually would have tried to focus on the positives. The negatives (can’t shoot, can’t hold on to the ball, can’t guard the pick and roll, can’t close out on shooters, can’t stay in front on Monta) that I would feel like I was patronizing you if I even took the time to point them out.

What you may not remember, however, is that the offense in the first half was actually fluid and fairly effective, by and large. It still wasn’t fantastic, mainly because there were still too many turnovers, but the team shot over 50% from the field for two straight quarters. And any time that happens for the  2009-10 Pacers, it’s worth noting.

In other good news, Mike Dunleavy looked good, if a little sluggish, in limited first-half minutes. It’s remarkable how much better he makes the offense work just by being out on the court. Jeff Foster was a nice boost as well, putting in, I think, four buckets off of offensive rebound put-backs. His presence in the high post also provided a nice conduit for ball rotation and player movement. Most of the times he would catch at the elbow and turn opposite for a swing pass, the gears would start chugging along; cutters would find lanes and spot-up shooters would find space. At times, it all looked like it was supposed to. That was nice, and expected, to see.

Also nice to see was Danny not just camping out and taking threes. It seems he has figured out that half his threes this season have been as far off the mark as the “shots” we used to watch Marquis punt up at the rim for the past few seasons. His 7/17 shooting was far from impressive, but he got his ass into the paint. Even if he’s not converting there, I think it’s a place he needs to spend more time. He even got down on the block a few times. Seeing more of that would be phenomenal.

Then, as we all know, the second half arrived, and the Pacers continued coughing up the ball, only it became much more of a self-destructive problem because they stopped making shots and the Warriors were able to run out in transition (or at least “mini fast breaks”) not just on steals, but on long rebounds off missed shots as well.

Plus, ya know, Monta happened. And the next thing I knew, guys like Anthony Morrow and CJ Watson were looking like Stephen Curry’s dad and Dale Ellis out there. The floodgates opened and there was no remote feeling of hope that any resistance would stem the tide. None did.

But, like I said, that was like 24 hours ago now, and you already know what happened. Cornrows has a full rundown of places you can read more if you’re into the whole masochism thing. Honestly, the only thing I read anywhere about this game that I found interesting was this quote that Mike Wells got from Monta.

“My wife asked me to get 50 (points) tonight,” Ellis said. “I was pulling for it….When I fouled out she said, ’45 and win is cool with me,’ so I’m happy.”

Aaawww…How heart-warming. At least the Pacers, in being terrible, can bring families together. And that’s really what the holiday season is all about, isn’t it?

Moving on…

The reason this “recap” is coming at 12:30 am the day after the game wasn’t pure apathy or even lethargy — although both of those played a role. It is more so that, instead of wasting my time cataloging another epic Pacer failure, I tried to do something a little more productive today.

If you look to the right ( ———–> ), you should see something that says “State of the Pacers.” And underneath that is a boatload of stats and facts about the current Pacer season. I can’t promise this will be 100% up-to-date every day, but we’ll try to get the number numbers up as soon after the game ends as possible. And hopefully, all this will give you a one-stop place to get a good statistical overview of where the team stands. Let me know if there are any other numbers you would like to see included.

Below that, there is also a rundown of every game Indy has played so far, complete with links back to all the 8p9s content related to said game. Basically, you can just click that link and relive any game in all its real-timesque wonder — at least from our perspective anyway. I’m not sure how useful that is right now this early in the season — or if it ever will be for you at all — but I can easily foresee myself sitting around come March trying to remember “Hmm…was it Golden State or Dallas that thoroughly destroyed the Pacers towards the beginning of the season, essentially ending any hope I had that this team could make the Playoffs less than 20 games into the season? I wish there was somewhere I could check that out easily that wasn’t just AP recaps.” Now, I can just check in here and, after a few clicks, answer my question. (And, of course, the answer in this hypothetical scenario would be “Both.” Yay, team.)

There’s also an official 8p9s “Game Ball” given out to the MVP of each game that will be listed over there. Feel free to weigh in with your choice by sending me an email to 8pts9secs@gmail.com or just letting me know on Twitter @8pts9secs.

This just in: We got stats. And, yes, I know this is more of a “graph” than it is a “stat,” but it came up in a Google Image Search for “stats,” so your beef is with Google, not me. Plus, it’s funny.