Today’s game should teach observers two things.

First is that the Pacers are extremely difficult to beat, when they do Pacer things. It wasn’t a dominating defensive performance, but it was still good. And Roy Hibbert was as dominant at the rim as you could ever hope to see.

At the offensive end, they moved the ball side-to-side, worked inside, and played with patience. Indy committed 16 turnovers – which is too many – but gave up only 13 points off turnovers. This is a huge difference, considering the Pacers were outscored 33-2 in points off turnovers in their last loss in the Garden.

Second is the fleeting nature of success.

The New York Knicks spent five months and 82 games earning the #2 seed. It took them 48 minutes to lose its benefit.

This was a very big win for the Indiana Pacers, but it was only one. It takes four to move on. The Knicks can – and will – play better. Coach Frank Vogel and his charges would be well served to remember that the job isn’t anywhere near complete.

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 37 MIN | 8-15 FG | 4-5 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 3 TO | 20 PTS | +14 Physical. Efficient. Everything the Pacers needed from their leader.
	Paul George, SF 43 MIN | 5-14 FG | 7-8 FT | 5 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 19 PTS | +3 Not an efficient day, but still 19 points and his typical good defense. If this is is the “bad road” Paul George, the Pacers will be fine.
	Roy Hibbert, C 39 MIN | 6-9 FG | 2-2 FT | 8 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 5 BLK | 2 TO | 14 PTS | -1 The difference. Absolutely dominant at the rim today. He went straight up, and didn’t foul…but that’s always a judgment call. The series may hinge on that judgment.
	George Hill, PG 43 MIN | 5-17 FG | 2-2 FT | 7 REB | 6 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 14 PTS | +11 Struggled with his shot, but was still a solid presence in Indy’s win.
	Lance Stephenson, SG 39 MIN | 5-9 FG | 1-3 FT | 13 REB | 3 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 11 PTS | +17 Stop and think a minute about how valuable Lance Stephenson’s growth has been to the Pacers this season. One of the team’s most solid performers in the playoffs.

	Tyler Hansbrough, PF 11 MIN | 3-6 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 8 PTS | -7 Stole some rest for West and fouls for PG with his 4th quarter stint guarding Melo. Got beat, but not badly.
	Sam Young, SF 6 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 0 PTS | -5 Moving on…
	Ian Mahinmi, C 9 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 0 PTS | +8 I see you, there, Ian…hiding behind Sam.
	D.J. Augustin, PG 13 MIN | 5-6 FG | 2-4 FT | 0 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 16 PTS | -5 So, helping the Pacers win one game a series makes up for a whole lotta sins.
	Frank Vogel His team “stuck to who they are.” He needs to keep them there.

I wanted to try really hard to bail on this game, but the truth of the matter is that there was nothing else to do, and I was too lazy to try really hard. Despite my first version of these grades, I ended up watching the whole game, which really came down to the Pacers showing up and being absolutely dominant for one quarter, then making plays down the stretch.

There were two key junctures of Indiana’s 81-75 victory. First was the third quarter, where the Pacers outscored New Orleans 24-7, while holding the Hornets to 35 points per 100. It allowed the Blue-and-Gold to completely erase a 17-point halftime deficit, despite missing five of their eight free throw attempts.

The second came over the final 3:40, where Indiana finished the game on a 16-5 run. Lance Stephenson chipped in 4 points – including a crucial put back of a Paul George miss and a layup set up beautifully by George Hill. Hill himself has become the kind of player that is capable of making big contributions, even when he was struggling. The mark of a valuable player.

And then, of course, was David West. West scored eight of the Pacers’ final 16 points, including a classic mid-range fadeaway to give Indy a 79-75 lead with under 15 seconds left. By the time, West and the Pacers were done, they were four games over .500, only percentage points behind Chicago for the Central Division lead.

While that’s an articulate statement on the Pacers’ progress in December, so are the last two games. In both, there became a point where it was obvious that the Pacers were just the better team. New Orleans did a better job of hanging around, but once the game was tied again, it was Indy’s game to win or lose.

And that is nice progress, indeed.

So, now…give me a hard time for the first grades.

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 34 MIN | 11-20 FG | 3-4 FT | 7 REB | 2 AST | 25 PTS | +14 Anthony Davis is going to be an excellent basketball player, but for now, he just could not handle West. Twenty second half points, including 8 in the Pacers’ 16-5 run to close out the game.
	Paul George, SF 38 MIN | 6-15 FG | 4-5 FT | 12 REB | 4 AST | 17 PTS | +7 Struggled with first, foul trouble in the second half, then clearly tired legs late, but was only Pacer who showed up before half time.
	Roy Hibbert, C 28 MIN | 3-8 FG | 0-2 FT | 9 REB | 1 AST | 6 PTS | +5 Got 5 blocks, but pretty badly outplayed by his opposite – Robin Lopez. Still, more good than bad.
	George Hill, PG 39 MIN | 3-8 FG | 3-4 FT | 5 REB | 6 AST | 12 PTS | +8 First time in something like 8 games where he was held to less than 15 points, but delivered late with key buckets and a couple key assists.
	Lance Stephenson, SG 34 MIN | 5-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 3 AST | 10 PTS | +14 He’s established himself as a solid 5th starter. Made a huge put back play late, and Vogel trusted him in the 2-4 PnR that led to West’s game-sealing bucket.

	Tyler Hansbrough, PF 14 MIN | 2-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 4 PTS | -8 No shoving matches tonight, so hard to notice him.
	Sam Young, SF 21 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | -7 He played, reportedly.
	Ian Mahinmi, C 20 MIN | 3-7 FG | 0-1 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 6 PTS | +1 Made a couple of defensive mistakes, sequentially, in the first half, but made up for it in the second with back-to-back blocks.
	D.J. Augustin, PG 7 MIN | 0-3 FG | 1-2 FT | 0 REB | 3 AST | 1 PTS | +2 The backup point guard situation for the Pacers is dire.
	Ben Hansbrough, PG 5 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | -6 Really, really dire.

The Pacers are just 14-12. They aren’t where you want them to be. They aren’t where they want to be. An impressive – and much-needed – 104-84 blowout of the Jazz was a lot of fun, but not necessarily definitional.

But watching this team over the last few games, you could begin to see “the plan” again. Early in the season, it was David West dragging the team away from the cliff. It was George Hill making just enough clutch plays to avoid disaster. And it was Paul George, Roy Hibbert, and the bench – as a whole and individually – just not getting the job done.

The defense was always there, but the offense was nowhere to be found. And you had to wonder if how long the defense would be able to withstand the pressure put on it by the anemic offense.

“It takes you a step back,” Paul George said. “You’re playing such great defense, like against Toronto, then you’re not knocking shots down…you tense up a little bit.”

The Pacers have won four of their last five games, and that’s great from a team perspective. But on some occasions, team improvement starts with individual success. In this case, Paul George’s recent emergence as the third “Pacer worth taking seriously” is beginning to drive the team’s improvement.

I asked Coach Vogel if Paul’s recent success is helping to make everyone more comfortable. “We knew when we learned that Danny was going to be out, there was going to be an adjustment period,“ Vogel said. “It’s definitely starting to come.”

In the locker room after the game, Gerald Green – he of the 21 points and ri-damn-diculous And-1 dunk – spoke about the whether or not he thought the stabilization of the starting unit was beginning to help the bench.

“I think so,” he nodded. “I think time is really helping us as well. Just every day, constantly, us playing with each other, we’re starting to know each other’s tendencies. The first five, ten games of the season, we were still trying to get a feel for each other. Now, we’re starting to know what we like to do. I think that’s making it a lot easier for us.”

This team still misses Danny Granger – at least from a sheer talent perspective. If they want to do any damage against good teams in the playoffs, I believe they will need Granger to return and be solidly productive. But, this team is also starting to evolve into an above average basketball team without him.

And the impetus of this is Paul George. It’s not Paul George alone. David West has been a rock all season. George Hill has quietly moved from just making a few clutch buckets to being a consistently NBA starter. But PG has been the epicenter.

In ten December games, the 6’10” Fresno State product has averaged 20 points, 8 rebounds four assists, and – just for good measure – a block and a steal per game. He’s done it while shooting 48% from the floor, 42% from three, and 85% from the foul line.

All of this has occurred while maintaining – and improving, in my opinion – his personal defensive standard. In tonight’s game, he had no less than three All-Defensive plays.

This Paul George fundamentally alters my perception of this team and this roster. Again, the Pacers have not suddenly become contenders. They still struggle to score from time-to-time, and left one on the table last night in Milwaukee by shooting something on the order of 29% from the floor in the second half.

But you can see a way for them to continue to grow and be better – both collectively and individually. George himself says that the reason for his apparent leap is the mundane fact of knowing what works and what doesn’t.

“I feel like I’ve been playing the same way as last year, but now I know when I can be aggressive…when I can look for teammates…when to make plays. Now, I have confidence I’ll knock shots down,” George explained. “It’s really still about letting the game come to me, but still having an aggressive mindset.”

A couple weeks ago, I said that growth in the NBA was a process, not an event. Paul George is starting to accelerate that process, and the team is benefitting as a result.

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 | 5-12 FG | 3-3 FT | 4 REB | 3 AST | 13 PTS | +18 Quiet game for David, but wasn’t really needed. His vision on the offensive end is really sharp, creating some nice buckets for George Hill, among others.
	Paul George, SF 33 MIN | 9-13 FG | 0-0 FT | 11 REB | 1 AST | 20 PTS | +17 So good. So very, very good.
	Roy Hibbert, C 30 MIN | 5-10 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 4 AST | 12 PTS | +22 Not a big stat line tonight, but a solid performance. Early offense was what you really want to see from him.
	George Hill, PG 29 MIN | 8-13 FG | 2-2 FT | 5 REB | 5 AST | 20 PTS | +24 Hill spent much of the early season as part of a two-man effort with David West trying to keep the team from spinning towards disaster. Now, he’s just a consistently good basketball player. Eighth straight game of 15 or more poitns.
	Lance Stephenson, SG 25 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 4 AST | 0 PTS | +16 No stat line of mention, but was solid out there. To me, this still shows progress that he doesn’t have to be spectacular to contribute.

	Miles Plumlee, PF 5 MIN | 1-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 2 PTS | -4 Garbage time
	Tyler Hansbrough, PF 15 MIN | 2-5 FG | 1-3 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 5 PTS | +6 Solid performance bouncing off big bodies
	Jeff Pendergraph, PF 5 MIN | 0-1 FG | 2-2 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 2 PTS | -4 Garbage Time
	Sam Young, SF 15 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-1 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 2 PTS | +3 Bumped into Mike Sanders (literally) before the game. Sam is sort of a latter day Sanders – useful in small doses.
	Gerald Green, SF 23 MIN | 7-12 FG | 3-5 FT | 0 REB | 1 AST | 21 PTS | +4 Draining threes. Check. Ridiculous dunk. Check. This was the idealized version of Gerald Green for the Pacers tonight.
	Ian Mahinmi, C 13 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | +2 Did what you want him to do.
	Ben Hansbrough, PG 7 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | +1 Missed a couple of ill-advised shots, but was otherwise adequate.
	D.J. Augustin, PG 12 MIN | 3-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 1 AST | 7 PTS | -5 Hit shots in a garbage time fourth quarter, but I think hitting shots consistently would get him his spot in the rotation back.

This season wasn’t supposed to be about moral victories – if you believe in such things. Therefore, the fact that the Pacers went toe-to-toe with arguably the best team in the NBA on their home floor offers little succor to either the Pacers or their fans.

The 11-point margin in the 104-93 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder is a little bit misleading. The Pacers definitely made it interesting, getting up off the canvas twice to fight back into the game.

But, in the end, they were done in by their fatal flaw – they simply can’t score reliably.

The first half was one of their best offensive performances of the season, scoring 56 points on a Thunder D that entered the game ranked 10th in defensive efficiency. However, the Pacer offense we all know and loathe showed up for the third quarter, scoring 19 points on an offensive efficiency of 82 points per 100.

Indy opened the 4th with a 6-0 run, and were within three with about 5-1/2 minutes left, when an 8-0 put the game out of reach – at least of this offense.

In the final 3 minutes of their losses to Denver on Friday and Oklahoma City tonight, the Pacer offense has missed 9 of their 10 field goal attempts and scored only 6 total points. That’s a pace to score 48 points over a 48 minute game.

So, while this was an entertaining game, it comes to the same result. The Pacers’ best loss of the year is still a loss, and their offense remains punchless – especially when it’s needed the most.

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 38 MIN | 10-16 FG | 1-3 FT | 9 REB | 1 AST | 21 PTS | -3 Was a general beast for most of the game, but managed only two 4th quarter points and (worse) only two 4th quarter shots. OKC had success removing him from the offense by fronting him when he was trying to come up to set the screen at the elbow – much like Miami with Battier last May.
	Paul George, SF 39 MIN | 5-15 FG | 4-4 FT | 8 REB | 3 AST | 17 PTS | 0 Poor shooting night, but still produced 17 points & 8 boards, Gave an admirable defensive performance, but Kevin Durant is just that good.
	Roy Hibbert, C 27 MIN | 4-9 FG | 2-2 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 10 PTS | -1 This is Roy Hibbert’s offensive game right now: Couldn’t convert on the block against the 6’5″ Thabo Sefolosha. Utterly annihilated at the rim by the 6’3″ Russell Westbrook. Still plays defense, but he’s barely a net positive right now.
	George Hill, PG 39 MIN | 5-14 FG | 3-3 FT | 4 REB | 3 AST | 15 PTS | 0 Scored some points. Didn’t shoot well. Unsurprisingly, unable to guard Kevin Durant in the post.
	Lance Stephenson, SG 25 MIN | 4-8 FG | 1-1 FT | 1 REB | 2 AST | 10 PTS | +4 Another solid performance from Lance tonight.

	Tyler Hansbrough, PF 10 MIN | 1-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 2 PTS | -8 Pointless…and I don’t mean scoring-wise.
	Sam Young, SF 9 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 2 PTS | -11 Not good.
	Gerald Green, SF >23 MIN | 4-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 8 PTS | -15 Really, this is more or less what you want from Gerald…perhaps with a little more explosiveness.
	Ian Mahinmi, C 21 MIN | 2-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 4 PTS | -10 Played well until the fourth quarter, when he oddly got 5 shots (making only 1). Mostly, that’s the sign of a good team (OKC) forcing shots to the guy they want taking them, but strange that he played 8 4th-quarter minutes to Roy-with-only-two-fouls 4.
	D.J. Augustin, PG 9 MIN | 2-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 4 PTS | -11 Had perhaps his best two plays of the season on his scoring drives. Wasn’t a disaster. Big step up, but not something I’m counting on.

I suppose the only downside is that this might be the best Pacers’ game of the year. Oh, they will certainly play better. (Let’s hope so anyway. It’s gonna be a loooong season covering such slop otherwise.) But in terms of excitement, drama and good times, this was about as good as it gets on the opening night for most of the National Basketball Association.

The Pacers seemed in control early before the turnovers multiplied and the defensive rotations disappeared. Time after time, drivers and cutters got to the secondary defender only to make a simple interior pass that checkmated the rim. Or worse, the Pacers allowed easy looks from behind the arc that allowed Toronto’s point guards to build confidence and energize an, at times, raucous crowd.

Fortunately, the Raptors couldn’t make much of anything, hitting just 33-of-91 (36.3%) from the field and failing to fully exploit their 24 offensive rebounds or the Pacers’ 18 turnovers (5 in the first quarter, 6 in the second, 6 in the third, 1 in the fourth). Regardless, Indiana’s third-quarter offense became so ineffective that Toronto was able to quickly build a double-digit lead anyway.

And as they did, there was David West, lurking with the potential energy of the Yellowstone Caldera supervolcano. He scored 21 of his game-high 25 points in the second half, including 14 of the team’s final 20 points. That’s impressive enough on its own and the team needed every one of his buckets to complete its comeback win. But it was more the way he went about it. It was like there was no real question that he needed to be the one to take over. Part of this was naturally the matchups: when you see a steam shovel like West being “contained” by the chain link fence that is Andrea Bargnani, you get him the ball. Sometimes professional basketball is as strategically simple as the two-on-two games played in driveways across America everyday. Just find out which of your opponents is the most outmatched physically and give the guy he is guarding the ball every time it until it stops working.

West was more than happy to oblige and he took it upon himself to make sure the deficit was dwindling as the clock did. For a few minutes in the fourth quarter, he and Paul George looked like they had been playing together since grade school. It’s been a while and the cobwebs build up more quickly in my head than they used to, but I can’t recall seeing them have that type of chemistry before. They ran a two-man game with such precise timing and unspoken communication that West was not only getting makable looks out of well-orchestrated pick-and-rolls or post-ups fueled by excellent entry passes, he was on occasion getting comically easy shots for him to knock down. Again, some of this was the Raptors keystone cops defense. But there was also something there that I haven’t seen before, with West slipping screens that George knew he was slip and battling for position then finding the ball hitting him right in the exact location to allow him to face up and punish his defender.

As aggressive and impressive as West was in making shots from his favorite spots on the floor, it was also great to see him still make the correct decisions rather than force up (makable) shots. The proverbial heat check is rampant throughout the league to a degree that sometimes makes you feel that guys like Nick Young and JR Smith are helpless addicts whose only real incentive to make a few shots is the knowledge that they will be launch one, or two or, god-willing, three more without anyone being able to deservedly give them the stink eye. It’s like those times I catch myself taking bite after bite of pizza without even tasting it just because some deep-rooted primal instinct in my brain is pleading with me to get to eating the goddamn next slice already before some buzzard swoops down and steals my prize kill.

Sucks to your buzzards, said West. Catching the ball in the middle of the lane, having just made five of his last six shots and with his team down six as time winds down, he drew a double. He could have shot. Perhaps he should have shot. He was five feet from the hoop and shooting the lights out. But he was surrounded and George Hill was wasn’t, standing in the corner, maintaining disciplined spacing and ready to shoot a wide-open three from the sideline — the most effective shot in the NBA that isn’t a layup or a free throw.

West kicked it out. Hill caught a well-intentioned but inaccurate pass, regathered and knocked down the shot. 86-83. The Pacers were now in a one-possession game and had three minutes to figure out how to win. Easy enough. West hit two more jumpers (one after an especially comical Raptors decision to leave West wide open in favor of doubling Hill as he dribbled, 19 feet from the hoop, over the top of a pick-and-roll). Then he was faced with a near-identical situation to the last time he kicked to Hill in the corner. The score was tied 88-88 and even muscling to earn a free throw rather than shooting a short, floating jumper would have likely put him on the line and put his team ahead.

Instead, he made the same decision. This time Hill missed.

By some fate of fortune, Indiana retained possession as the ball (perhaps) went off a Raptor player out of bounds. They had 22 seconds to run one play to break an 88-88 tie. They did. It was this. Ball game. Pacers win.

Does any of this mean anything? Probably not. But it was nice to see the Paul George/West dynamic that the team may be able to build off and even better, or perhaps just different, to see a guy shooting as well as West decide to dish the ball to the open guy, twice, late in the game instead of take every shot in a game when he had earned every right to take every shot.

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 - 28 MIN | 25 PTS (12/19 FG)| 2 REB | 1 AST  Tonight, David West was Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhies, all the walkers from The Walking Dead, Luke Skywalker, the Scream guy, The Scream by Edvard Munch, Ash’s right hand, every zombie from 28 Days Later, the Cuban missiles from Thirteen Days, The Day After Tomorrow, and Gandhi. From Gandhi.
	Paul George - 35 MIN | 14 PTS (7/15 FG) | 15 REB | 5 AST | 5 TO Scored 9 first quarter points and gave 38 minutes, but once the adrenaline wore off, he was clearly hobbled. I watched him closely in the first quarter, and he clearly would have to gather himself to make plays. After a while, the tank ran dry.
	Roy Hibbert - 29 MIN | 14 PTS (6/13 FG) | 9 REB | 5 BLK Joined Paul George in the strong start club and had the type of game that Pacers’ fans have come to expect: often dominant, sometimes invisible. On offense anyway. The difference between now and two years ago is that he also controlled the paint with all those blocks and rebounded fine.
	George Hill - 33 MIN | 8 PTS (7/13) | 7 AST | 0 TO Didn’t have the best game most of the evening but that doesn’t matter. He totally redeemed himself with a huge corner three and the game-winning floater with 2.1 seconds left and the game tied.
	Gerald Green - 27 MIN | 6 PTS (2/7) | 2 REB | 2 AST | 6 TO He’ll get better. His range was nice though, hitting two treys. Although he passed up another one, something that was emblematic of a night where he looked a little out of his element.

	DJ Augustin – 15 MIN | 5 PT (1/4 FG, 1/1 3PT) | 2 AST | 2 TO He had a few nice sequences, getting to the line with savvy and being aggressive in the open court. But he led a bench unit that was sloppy and overmatched. He’ll get better.
	Ian Mahinmi - 19 MIN | 1 PT (0/1 FG, 1/2 FT) | 5 REB | 2 BLK | 4 TO Yikes. He’ll get better? But he did make one really nice block when he was the only reserve out there with the four other starters at a time when the team couldn’t afford any mistakes. Set a few nice picks.
	Lance Stephenson – 13 MIN | 5 PT (2/3 FG) | 4 REB | 0 TO Really good production in limited time, but there were some issues. Hit a three, which was weird. He could get better.
	Tyler Hansbrough – 20 MIN | 8 PT (2/5 FG, 4/4 FT) | 3 REB | 1 AST The assist was a nice surprise while the lack of rebounding was not. Typical good Tyler though, as he forced the issue, got to the line, made people uncomfortable, hit a lefty layup and was effective enough freelancing without taking much away from the offensive flow.
	Sam Young - 11 MIN | 4 PT (2/2 FG) | 3 REB | 1 AST | 0 TO Nice little debut. Needs to work on some stuff but showed some good hoops instincts with a tip in and a few headsy defensive displays.

The Pacers should definitely feel like they left a golden opportunity on the table today. They led for most of the first three quarters, were tied heading into the fourth, and trailed 86-85 with 4:50 left in the game. But, from that point, they only scored one point, falling to the heavily favored Miami Heat, 95-86.

It’s always a blown opportunity when you have a chance to win a road game in the playoffs, but don’t. Prospects looked even rosier, when it was announced that Chris Bosh would miss the second half with an abdominal pull. But, that never became a factor.

For that to have mattered, the Pacers would have needed to force Miami consistently to their third option. They did not. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade combined for 42 second half points – four more than the Pacers had as a team during that 24 minutes.

Bosh’s injury could prove meaningful, if it lingers, but only if the Pacers defense can figure out a way to at least contain the best player in the league or Dwyane Wade. Today, they couldn’t do either.

The Pacers were whistled for nine more fouls, and shot 10 fewer free throws than the Heat. And while that certainly was advantageous to Miami, and very frustrating at times, I’ll stop well short of saying it changed the game. Even acknowledging that the 50/50 calls skewed heavily towards the home team, there were plenty of other areas the where the Pacers left points and chances on the table.

Indiana’s bigs – David West and Roy Hibbert – played well, combining for 34 points and 23 rebounds. Darren Collison did, as well, and the bench as a whole played at or above the level you need. However, George Hill was spotty, and Danny Granger and Paul George were outright bad.

Taken as a whole, there’s as much to build on from this game as there is to regret. The Pacers were far from perfect, yet still took this game deep into the fourth quarter before succumbing. The blue print is what is what before the game. Indiana must cut down on the turnovers (15), do a better job on the glass at both ends (allowed Miami to get 60% of the rebounds after the half), and they need to get something – anything – from their wings.

It’s always tough to judge from one game, but this didn’t feel like a high water mark for the Pacers. There was no fluky shooting from long range or any stretch of amazing play by Indiana. Mostly, the teams went toe-to-toe, until Miami won.

Vogel and his squad did a good job of learning and adjusting in the first round. Miami is a different beast, but it’s still reasonable to expect the Pacers to get better going forward, and not worse.

At one point today, Vogel supposedly said, “Do what the Mavericks did, only better.” Now, what the Pacers need to do is what they did today…only better.

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 37 MIN | 6-12 FG | 5-6 FT | 12 REB | 3 AST | 17 PTS Great, efficient numbers’ game, but couldn’t generate anything late against Miami’s defensive pressure.
	Danny Granger, SF 39 MIN | 1-10 FG | 4-4 FT | 4 REB | 3 AST | 7 PTS Just nowhere near enough, if the Pacers hope to win a game, let alone the series.
	Roy Hibbert, C 28 MIN | 6-12 FG | 5-6 FT | 11 REB | 17 PTS Need this kind of performance from him every game the rest of this series, if the Pacers are to have a chance.
	George Hill, SG 25 MIN | 4-10 FG | 3-4 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 10 PTS Gave some scoring, but his foul trouble was crippling. His fifth foul was a mindless mistake, and it forced Vogel to go with Darren Collison for too long, which limited DC’s effectiveness just as Miami moved ahead in the fourth.
	Paul George, SG 26 MIN | 1-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 6 PTS Very, very disappointing performance from PG. Seemed like the game was moving too fast for him. He better catch up fast.

	Leandro Barbosa, SG 23 MIN | 4-10 FG | 1-4 FT | 9 PTS Attacked offensively, but hurt defensively and, oh, those missed free throws.
	Louis Amundson, C 13 MIN | 0-2 FG | 4 REB | 1 BLK | 0 PTS Did what he does.
	Tyler Hansbrough, PF 16 MIN | 4-5 FG | 0-2 FT | 1 REB | 8 PTS Great first-half stretch, keyed by hitting some jumpers. Second half stint, well, not so good.
	Darren Collison, PG 22 MIN | 4-8 FG | 2-2 FT | 6 AST | 10 PTS Continued his strong play this playoffs, but definitely benefits from having his minutes and stints limited. When he goes flat out, he’s very good, but you could see he was gassed early in the fourth, and it hurt.
	Dahntay Jones, SG 8 MIN | 1-3 FG | 1 REB | 2 PTS Some good minutes to cover foul trouble.

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.

There was a lot to like about last night’s overtime loss to the Sixers. The announced attendance of 17,701 didn’t look like much of an exaggeration to my eyes. It was a large, enthusiastic, wholly pro-Pacer crowd.

And they were treated to a pretty good game…Lots of action…Lots of momentum swings…Some great play by David West and a big game from Tyler Hansbrough.

But, at the end, it still was a loss. In the grand scheme of things, that probably doesn’t matter all that much, but I have to wonder how many more converts to Pacerland would have been made…if Paul George had hit a thrilling game winner…or if the Pacers could have closed out the overtime when they had the lead.

It was a fun-ugly game. It was 48 minutes of playoff intensity, with another five minutes thrown in as a bonus. Both teams scrapped and clawed as if this was an elimination game.

The Pacers made big plays and big shots, but Philly made more. After the game, I told George Hill that it felt to me that the Sixers had hit an inordinate amount of “difficult” – read: “bad” – shots, and if he agreed.

He shrugged his un-iced right shoulder, and said, “That’s what desperate teams do. A desperate team is going to try and claw its way out. They played with great desperation, and they made some big plays down the stretch, and we couldn’t make a couple.”

And that’s really both the difference in the game, and why we watch. Not just watch, but invest in watching the Pacers, and sports in general. The passion. The effort. The desperation.

Ugly game. Fun game. Playoff game.

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 36 MIN | 13-22 FG | 6-6 FT | 12 REB | 32 PTS Beginning to assert himself as the playoffs approach, scoring 14 of the Pacers last 24 points, but just wasn’t quite enough.
	Danny Granger, SF 41 MIN | 2-12 FG | 0-0 FT | 11 REB | 4 PTS Needed more scoring from Danny, but still a positive sign that he collected 11 boards. Most troubling was the zero free throw attempts in on one of the more ineptly officiated games I’ve seen in quite some time.
	Roy Hibbert, 34 MIN | 2-10 FG | 7-10 FT | 7 REB | 3 AST | 11 PTS Poor shooting night, but did get to the line 10 times. It was disturbing to watch a post up at the 4 minute mark of the third, where he couldn’t budge the 6-9, 225-pound Lavoy Allen an inch, and settled for a half-hook from three or four feet outside of its effective range.
	George Hill, SG 37 MIN | 4-11 FG | 2-4 FT | 5 AST | 10 PTS In the post-game locker room, Hill sat at his locker with his shoulder iced, cutting of the tape on his ankle. When finished, he threw the wadded tape at a large plastic trash can sitting about 20-feet from his chair. When the tape hit the side of the can just below the lip, he said, “Just like every shot tonight.” Pretty much.
	Paul George, SG 44 MIN | 6-13 FG | 7 REB | 3 AST | 16 PTS Strong line in his newly expanded role, but still needs to grow overall. Didn’t get a good shot at the end of regulation, and, of course, the 5-second turnover. Still, I’m not convinced that any of the 9 guys taken in front of are going to have better careers than he does.

	Leandro Barbosa, SG 21 MIN | 2-9 FG | 5 REB | 4 AST | 4 PTS Need more points and better shooting from him, but nice to see the 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
	Louis Amundson, C 12 MIN | 2-3 FG | 2 REB | 1 AST | 4 PTS Solid game from Lou, but nothing overtly noticeable. Ran that one fast break like Magic Johnson.
	Tyler Hansbrough, PF 24 MIN | 8-14 FG | 1-1 FT | 3 REB | 17 PTS Tyler’s ability to succeed in the NBA is entirely predicated on his decisiveness, and his ability to consistently hit 18-foot jumpers. The former drives the latter. Tonight, he had both.
	Darren Collison, PG 16 MIN | 3-3 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 AST | 8 PTS Nice shooting night, but we’ll have to see how he plays with the second unit. A big question mark heading towards the playoffs.

Well if that wasn’t one of the more entertaining games of the year then what was? The Pacers came out of the gates smoking and raced out to 27-15 lead less than 8 minutes into the game. They were on pace to score about 162 points, which probably would have been enough to win.

Instead, most of the starters checked out and the bench spent the next 4 and a half minutes not scoring a single basket. They made a few free-throws here and there but Mike Dunleavy, Jr. scored 9 points over the next 3 minutes and the Bucks tied the game back up early in the second quarter. It was a disastrous display of futility that soon allowed Milwaukee to take a lead as large as 5 at one point.

Fortunately, David West, who might have played his been overall game as in a Pacer uniform, started grabbing some offensive boards and generally putting his stamp on the game. He kept one possession alive long enough for Danny Granger to get an easy putback and tipped in a miss at the buzzer to put Indiana back up by 6 going into the half. It was nice that the starters righted the ship and all but disconcerting that one of this team’s supposed strengths — depth — nearly allowed such a great start turn into a game the team might not lose. Not exactly what you want to see so close to the playoffs.

The Pacers really never looked like they would lose again, however. They built the lead further in the third, with West now doing some nice work in another way: passing. He threw a tremendous full-court strike to a streaking Paul George, who caught the ball in stride and dunked without dribbling. It wasn’t quite as anomalous as Miami’s full-court alley-oops but it was only a small step below. Next, he found a cutting George Hill (I think … maybe another guy) in the lane for an easy lay in.

The rest of the game, though, was more WWF-style entertainment.

It started when Dunleavy got out in transition. As you may remember, the former Pacer hammered Tyler Hansbrough in late March, breaking the power forward’s nose and another facial bone with a flying dual elbow that forced him to wear that mask he was rocking for awhile. So there was some bad blood between the two already, which apparently may go even deeper than just that hard foul.

On this play, both Leandro Barbosa and Hansbrough were chasing Dunleavy and it looked like Tyler was poised to return the favor. He was taking an angle to make a play on the looming layup. Then, Leandro, as guys nicknamed “Blur” tend to do, beat him to the spot and threw a shoulder into Mike as he went up for the shot. Lil Dun went flailing off into the baseline photographers and Hansbrough tumbled into him after tripping over Barbosa. Dunleavy and Tyler exchanged some unpleasantries while tangled up on the ground before cooler heads prevailed.

Not so long after, Larry Sanders started acting foolishly. He picked up one technical foul disagreeing with a ref. Then he got a second for knocking Granger and Roy Hibbert to the ground while trying to fight through a screen. He wasn’t happy about it, and he exchanged some words with George Hill on the way off the court. West ran over to stick up for his little buddy, and Sanders had some stuff to say to, and some fingers to point at, David. Others got involved and a mini-fracas broke out, with Sanders pretending he wanted his teammates to let him go after West and then deciding that was a terrible idea once he managed to escape their grasp. This was presumably cause David could eat his children. A few more technicals were handed out and it allowed the Bucks to mount a last-ditch comeback effort that ultimately wasn’t enough.

The end.

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, 32 MIN | 9-14 FG | 3-4 FT | 14 REB | 7 AST | 21 PTS Quite possibly his best game as a Pacer. His ORBs helped Indy close out the 1st half strong and his passing led the charge in the 3rd quarter. Then, he showed what he means otherwise by sprinting over to defend Hill when Sanders was losing his mind.
	Danny Granger, 36 MIN | 7-20 FG | 11-11 FT | 5 REB | 29 PTS He’s playing so well in April that it’s getting uneventful and expected. Nice timing for that. Perfect at the line tonight in, most impressively, 11 trips.
	Roy Hibbert, C 23 MIN | 5-5 FG | 2-2 FT | 5 REB | 12 PTS Didn’t miss a shot. Post moves deadly. Although loses points for being the lowest-scoring starter, all 5 of whom were in double figures. It was the 11th time that has happened this year. Indy is 10-1 in those games.
	George Hill, 38 MIN | 8-12 FG | 4-7 FT | 5 REB | 8 AST | 22 PTS Pacers now 7-0 in games he has started at PG. 22 pts on 12 shots and 8 dimes. Combined, that’s 38 pts he directly contributed, although he owes his back-court mate dinner for giving him 3 great passes for easy buckets.
	Paul George, SG 24 MIN | 6-11 FG | 3 REB | 5 AST | 14 PTS Filled up the stat sheet and had the aforementioned great passes — particularly the steal, falling-out-of-bounds one — to Hill.

	Dahntay Jones, SG 12 MIN | 0-4 FG | 3 REB | 1 AST | 2 PTS I have nothing to add.
	Leandro Barbosa, SG 25 MIN | 4-10 FG | 3 REB | 2 AST | 10 PTS The steal and save was great. The spot-up was greater. The 4-point play was greatest.
	Louis Amundson, C 23 MIN | 2-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 4 PTS Lou being Lou. Nice block.
	A.J. Price, G 10 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS Unnoticeable individually for the most part but the team couldn’t score while he was running the offense in the late 1st/early 2nd quarter. It was really disgusting out there.
	Tyler Hansbrough, PF 18 MIN | 2-7 FG | 0-2 FT | 1 REB | 4 PTS Didn’t hit much, including the foul he tried to lay on Mike Dunleavy in transition. Although that one was just cause Barbosa got there first. No such excuse for the 5 missed shots from the field or the 2 from the line.

In a 66-game season, it’s easy to miss the normal mile markers for success. For example, the Pacers picked up their 40th win tonight. While that’s a pedestrian number in an 82-game season, it actually prorates to just shy of the equivalent of 50 wins in a 66-game season.

Also by beating Philadelphia in Philly, the Pacers finished the season with a 19-14 record on the road – the equivalent of between 23 & 24 wins in a full season. In their 35-year NBA history, Indiana has only won a higher percentage of games away from home three times: 2004, 1998, and 1999.

The win puts Indy 3-1/2 games ahead of Boston, Atlanta, and Orlando for the third seed in the East. Those three teams each have 25 losses, so the Pacers’ magic number for locking up the third seed is two. Win two of their remaining four home games, and that’s it.

Danny Granger delivered 24 points while hitting six of his eight three-point attempts. In the 29 games since the All Star break, Granger has averaged 19.9 points and 5.2 rebounds while shooting an eFG% of .532.

In April, Granger has upped that to 23.5 points and 5.3 rebounds on .577 eFG%. The Pacers have gone 10-1 during the month.

At this point, it must be said that – as far as the regular season goes – Frank Vogel and his Pacers have met the highest possible reasonable expectations in terms of accomplishments. They have a job of work ahead of them in the playoffs, but they have done a job of work to get to this point. That should not be dismissed.

Plus, they overcame the yellow jerseys.

As a minor side note, this is actually the 1,000th post on 8p9s, so that’s kinda cool, too.

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 33 MIN | 5-16 FG | 3-5 FT | 3 REB | 13 PTS | -2 Shot wasn’t falling tonight, despite a ton of good looks, but still made enough plays late to remind you of how important he is to this team.
	Danny Granger, SF 35 MIN | 8-19 FG | 6 REB | 3 AST | 24 PTS | -3 Hammered away at Philly’s D by hitting six of his eight three point attempts, added 6 boards and 3 assists to his 24 points. Granger has firmly reestablished his bona fides as the team’s best player with All Star-level play since the break.
	Roy Hibbert, C 32 MIN | 6-14 FG | 3-3 FT | 13 REB | 15 PTS | -3 Good game with 15 & 13, and a big three-point play late.
	George Hill, SG 37 MIN | 4-11 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 7 AST | 12 PTS | 0 Gets at least a half of a letter grade just for that old school pivot reverse bucket that completely fooled the Philly defenders…12 points and 7 assists in yet another solid performance.
	Paul George, SG 27 MIN | 3-5 FG | 7 REB | 5 AST | 9 PTS | -1 Best overall performance in quite some time, seemed to be more comfortable in allowing the game to come to him. Big defensive presence in the first half, despite going scoreless, then delivered some timely threes in the second half. Exactly what the Pacers need from him heading into the playoffs.

	Dahntay Jones, SG 14 MIN | 3-4 FG | 2-3 FT | 3 REB | 9 PTS | +8 Great energy and a few signature plays from Dahntay tonight.
	Leandro Barbosa, SG 21 MIN | 4-9 FG | 3 AST | 9 PTS | +6 Giving what the Pacers need – points off the bench, though his shooting touch has been a bit off lately.
	Louis Amundson, C 11 MIN | 0-2 FG | 2 REB | 1 AST | 0 PTS | +3 Quiet game statistically, but team was still positive while he was on the floor.
	A.J. Price, G 11 MIN | 1-3 FG | 1 REB | 2 PTS | +5 Looked less for his shot, which is a plus…but not much of one.
	Tyler Hansbrough, PF 20 MIN | 3-6 FG | 3-3 FT | 4 REB | 9 PTS | +12 Very active game for Tyler tonight, particularly in the late third, early fourth, when the Pacers turn the tables a bit on the Sixers after struggling at the start of the third.