Pacers are talk of the town with a surprising 1st half
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers are playing harder, moving the ball faster and winning more games than most people anticipated.
Fans in this basketball-crazed state expect nothing less from their favorite teams. Around the league, though, the Pacers might be the biggest surprise of the first half of the season.
Just six months after trading four-time All-Star Paul George to Oklahoma City — setting up what many believed would be a long rebuilding process — new president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard has transformed the Pacers virtually overnight. A younger, more energetic roster has given Indiana a more entertaining style with no significant drop in wins.
“We knew coming in that we would be developing a lot of guys,” coach Nate McMillan said. “They were young, many of them were in new roles. For us, it’s about developing that culture and that identity and we’re still doing that. I think we’re only starting to scratch the surface.”
With eight new players and three new starters, McMillan knew it would take time for everyone to get on the same page. At times, they still aren’t.
But even amid the growing pains, Indiana hit the midway point of the season with a winning record (21-20), good enough for eighth in the Eastern Conference. They have wins over San Antonio, Minnesota, Toronto and two over Cleveland. Indiana is the only team with multiple wins over the three-time defending Eastern Conference champs and can make it three in a row when the Cavs come to town Friday. Cleveland swept the Pacers in the first round of the playoffs last year even with George and former All-Star Jeff Teague.
What’s changed? Just about everything.
The Pacers have broken away from their stodgy, half-court offense and are playing at the tempo Larry Bird, Pritchard’s predecessor, envisioned. As a result, the Pacers are tied for No. 8 in scoring (107.3 points), are No. 5 in 3-point percentage (37.9) and are just one victory behind last year’s 41-win pace.
“We have so much fun. We show him (McMillan) how hard we work on the defensive end and he gives us a little rope on the offensive end. I love it,” said Lance Stephenson, the Pacers’ showman and one of six holdovers. “It’s been great because you all had us predicted to be at the bottom of the league. We’ve just got to keep playing hard and playing together.”