Pacers Reach the Half-Way Point

            With the NBA All-Star weekend finally concluding it’s time to reflect on the first 33 games of the 2012 season and look forward for the final 33 games before the playoffs. Before we get to that though, how about some congratulations for the two players that represented Indiana during the All-Star festivities? Paul George and Roy Hibbert both participated in their first All-Star weekend of their careers. George played in the Rising Stars Game and the Slam Dunk Contest while Hibbert was a bench player in the All-Star Game.

In the Rising Stars Game, George scored 23 points, second highest in the game. He also participated in the Slam Dunk Contest. George threw down three great dunks but somehow didn’t even finish in the top two of voting. George’s first dunk was over a standing Roy Hibbert, who, let’s not forget is 7’ 2”. His second dunk was easily the most creative of any in this year’s contest. With the lights off in arena and George glowing in the dark, he threw down a 360 windmill dunk. The third dunk was impressive, but apparently not the game winner he needed.  

Paul George and his glow-in-the-dark dunk

Hibbert didn’t produce much for his Eastern All-Stars’ team. He only had one basket and that was a tip-in off a missed shot. The All-Star game doesn’t really provide a great showcase for true centers though. Nobody wants to see a post-up player when you can just pass it to Lebron and watch him launch 3’s all night. Of the 12 people on the roster only two were centers so it’s not unreasonable to believe that Hibbert play in future All-Star games. When he does, he will be able to look back on his rookie experience and realized what he did wrong and how he can improve. The same goes for Paul George.

            Indiana is third in the Eastern Conference Standings at the half-way point with a 21-12 record. That is shocking considering how ugly they were playing in mid-February amidst a five-game losing streak. Fortunately for us, the Philadelphia 76ers entered the All-Star break on a five-game losing streak of their own. So Indiana is sitting in third place, which is great. The bad news is I think that’s the best they can do. I don’t think the Pacers will be able to take the #1 or #2 spots because the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls are just too good.

Don’t think that we’re just gonna fall into that #3 position though with a fight. Several other good teams are looking to get home court advantage in the playoffs. As mentioned, the 76ers have a great, young team similar to the Pacers. The Orlando Magic are playing great too, but there’s a good chance their best player, Dwight Howard, will be traded pretty soon. If Howard leaves then so do Orlando’s playoff hopes. The Atlanta Hawks have a dangerous starting five but don’t have as much depth as some of the upper echelon teams. Then there’s the New York Knicks and the most popular basketball player in the world, Jeremy Lin. It is unknown how that team will continue to play, but they could be a scary team to face in the playoffs especially if Lin can gel with Carmelo Anthony.

One huge benefit for the Pacers in the second half of the season is they have a very favorable schedule. Of their final 33 games, 19 are at played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. However, 19 games are against teams with a record of .500 or better. March will definitely be the more brutal of the final two months. The Pacers play 18 games with 11 of them against teams that have a record above .500. March also includes road trips to Chicago, Miami, Orlando, New York and San Antonio.

Here are the first handful of games in the second half of the season for the Pacers:

2/28- vs. Golden State Warriors (13-17)

3/3- at New Orleans Hornets (8-25)

3/5- at Chicago Bulls (27-8)

3/6- vs. Atlanta Hawks (20-14)

            
            Indiana has beaten all of these teams but that doesn’t mean we’ll see a repeat performance. After we beat the Bulls, Derrick Rose vowed he would never lose to us again. Will his promise remain intact or we will beat Chicago again? It should be a great game with a playoff atmosphere in Chicago. I can only speak for myself but I will ecstatic if we beat the Bulls again. We also beat the Hawks early in the season but they turned around and beat us less than a month ago. The Hawks always have our number. Not only could we use a win against Atlanta to help our team’s self-esteem, but if we tie with them in the standings we would win the head-to-head tiebreaker.