After a small implosion and bad luck with injury, the Pacers have ended their brief hiatus from the playoffs. The big difference this season is that they will be a low-seeded underdog against the Toronto Raptors instead of the premiere threat to the Eastern Conference dominance of LeBron James.
2014-15 was bleak from the Indiana Pacers. George Hill led all players on the team with 5.4 win shares and Paul George was absent due to a freak snapping of his leg while working out at a Team USA basketball camp. The team dropped from 56 wins and a second consecutive trip to the Eastern Conference Finals to 38 wins and no playoffs, back into the lottery for the first time since 2009-10.
This season, the old faces of Roy Hibbert and David West are gone, but Paul George is back. The team also added Monta Ellis via free agency, Myles Turner via the draft, and Ty Lawson via waivers down the stretch. They added seven wins to their total this season and are back in the playoffs with the modest seven-seed position.
The Pacers return to the playoffs is largely due to the performance of George who has received help intermittently from his teammates. Ellis is a capable scorer known to come up aces in clutch situations, Turner was one of the dozen best picks in the draft and played like it for a majority of the year. Both Solomon Hill and George Hill have played important roles as well when their name has been called.
The star power of George and the fiery hot streakiness of Ellis will lead the team on offense. On defense is where they really shine, as a combination of skilled players from top to bottom. George is one of a handful of the very best wing defenders in the league and the team seems to not even miss the days of Hibbert being a monster deterrent in the lane, largely thanks to the improved play from Ian Mahinmi who has established himself as a reliable presence for the Pacers. They ranked eighth in the league in opponents points per game at 100.5, which is slightly worse from last season, but still among the best in the league. Their offense improved in points per game from 24th (yikes!) to 17th. It isn’t great on that end of the ball, still a significant improvement year-over-year.
Defensive rating takes into account per 100 possessions statistics instead of per game numbers. In that category, the Pacers actually rank 3rd in the entire league. Based on the confirmation of these slightly different statistics, we can learn the same thing – the Pacers defense is really good. They will be tested.
The combination of Kyle Lowly and DeMar DeRozan is pretty one of the most intense backcourt combinations in the entire league. Put them right up there with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson of the Warriors, Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum of the Trail Blazers and just about no one else. They will lead the charge of the second-seeded Raptors who intend to fill the role that the Pacers held not so long ago – the primary threat to LeBron in the East.
So where does this leave the Pacers and their hopes for the 2015 playoffs? Not in a great place. During their four meetings this season, the Pacers went 1-3 against Toronto, losing both games on the road and splitting their home games which including an overtime affair that they lost. It is exceedingly rare that a team who sits in the bottom portion of the seeding can conjure an upset and the Pacers won’t be the team to pull off that feat this year.
Still, nothing wrong with getting a few bonus games of George and Turner, so enjoy the ride and let’s see if the Pacers can’t steal a game from the Raptors in Toronto.
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