It was a massive surprise to me that the Pacers were able to beat the Mavs in Dallas. I thought it would be a damn miracle if they manage to beat the Spurs in San Antone.
Of course, they didn’t, but they almost made me believe they could. The Pacers had led most of the first half and most of the way until the fourth, when the Spurs proved again why they are the defending champs. Final score: 106-100, not bad for a team missing its entire starting lineup from last year.
Tonight, they got 22 points from Rodney Stuckey, 13 points from Luis Scola and 12 from Chris Copeland. Roy Hibbert should be back soon from his ankle injury, and David West is supposedly “close.” George Hill supposedly won’t be back until next month at the earliest. If everyone else stays healthy the Pacers could be back at relative full strength (missing Paul George, of course) before the end of the month.
Over the last few years, as the Pacers were rising to contender status, they occasionally lost to teams they should have beaten, or struggled to beat teams they should have smashed on paper. Now they are on the other side of the coin, giving elite teams all they can handle with their effort and grit.
Next up, the Pacers put their “impressive” 6-9 record on the line against the Orlando Magic back home.
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