Category: Indiana Pacers Blog

Road to playoffs about to get tougher for Pacers

Here’s the Indianapolis Star reporting on the Pacers, who have played excellent basketball for a long stretch of time and have their eye on the postseason:

The Indiana Hoosiers aren’t hearing Brad Stevens’ footsteps. The Indiana Pacers are.

It is not only Stevens’ Boston Celtics creeping up on the Pacers, though. Indiana, Boston and Miami are tied for seventh in the Eastern Conference at 30-36. Charlotte, which was to play the Los Angeles Clippers late Tuesday night, was a half-game behind at 29-36.

No more than two of those four — Indiana, Miami, Boston, Charlotte — will make the NBA playoffs.

The once-moderate schedule confronting the Pacers? That’s over…

The combined winning percentage of the Pacers’ remaining opponents is .512. Of the six teams with a realistic shot at the No. 7 and 8 playoff spots, only the Brooklyn Nets (.523) have it tougher. But Brooklyn, which visits the Pacers on Saturday, has 11 home games out of 17 remaining; the Pacers have seven at home, nine on the road.

C.J. Miles, making music when off court

Here’s the Indianapolis Star reporting on C.J. Miles, who has been making music for a while now — but not promoting it too heavily:

He grew up singing in the church choir. Playing piano in middle school. Writing music as a teen, songs few people ever heard.

Now, Indiana Pacers guard C.J. Miles can be heard. He has ventured beyond writing to recording and releasing his own hip hop music – quietly.

Most fans who watch him on the court have no idea Miles is an undercover musician. That’s OK with him.

“I have no interest in being a rapper (as a career). I just like to do music. That’s why I don’t pub it or anything,” he said. “If people want to listen to it, they can listen to it. If they don’t, I’m still going to do it. It doesn’t really matter.”

Miles views music as his outlet, much like other guys play video games to relax. During the NBA season, while on the airplane or the bus, it’s not unusual to find Miles writing music.

George Hill helping Pacers do big things

The Pacers deserve more mentions from us and everybody else as well. Written off before the season even started, they’ve played excellent basketball for a while now. Here’s the Indianapolis Star with some insight:

Who knew an Indiana Pacer other than Paul George could key such a productive second half of the season?

That has become the case with George Hill, whose strong return from injury has improved the starting lineup as well as the unit that comes off the bench.

With Hill averaging 14.5 points over the past 11 games, the Pacers are 9-2 and in playoff contention entering Friday’s home game against Chicago because the entire team is clicking.

Rodney Stuckey and C.J. Watson have combined for 57 starts this season, but as a recent tandem of reserves they’re giving opponents fits.

Stuckey has averaged a team-high 15.6 points since Hill went back to starting Feb. 4. Included in that surge are seven games of 15 or more points and back-to-back 30-point efforts. Stuckey’s totals have been fueled by 51 percent shooting (52.2 percent on 3-pointers) and 3.6 assists.

Here’s the Indianapolis Star helping to add clarity to the health status of the Pacers’ Paul George, who is injured and has not played a game this regular season:

While George made a business trip to New York City to endorse his line of hats, he also created a fuss with comments about making a full comeback by mid-March.

“March 1 isn’t when I wanted to play my first game, but when I wanted to be full-out practicing, doing up-and-down full court without any restrictions or limitations,” George said in a Friday interview with Yahoo Sports. “From there on, it’s seeing how far I can progress to where I play my first game. My hope is it’s an opponent where I feel comfortable coming back to where there isn’t too much pressure to perform, where I can ease my way back in. But I want to say mid-March, I could probably come back around that time.”

Later that night, the team released a statement to reel back these comments. While the statement repeated that George was “hopeful” and “optimistic” with that timeline of a return, the team also emphasized that the decision rests with the Pacers’ medical staff.

Here’s the Indianapolis Star reporting on the Pacers, whose head coach is making sure his voice gets heard, at least when the refs are around:

The Indiana Pacers are in a fight for one of the last playoff spots, and coach Frank Vogel is in a race that he’d rather not win.

Vogel recently moved ahead of his peers to become the No. 1 leader in technical fouls. On Monday, Vogel got ticked off then was T’d up – his ninth technical foul happening in a tightly contested fourth quarter against the San Antonio Spurs. All technical fouls award the opposing team a free throw, which San Antonio’s Danny Green made. The Pacers eventually lost 95-93.

By Wednesday afternoon, before his team faced the New Orleans Pelicans, Vogel hesitantly addressed his rising total of techs. The nine Ts have also come with a hefty price tag of $22,000 in fines this season.