The Pacers just keeping taking care of business.
Despite Roy Hibbert being out tonight with an elbow injury and getting a bunch of bad breaks from the refs tonight down the stretch (a few crucial no-calls, an obvious mistake on a George Hill charging foul, and a flagrant that also fouled out Ian Mahinmi in the opening seconds of overtime), the Indiana Pacers managed to pull through in the end with their 7th consecutive win of the season, a 109-103 triumph over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Huge night for Luis Scola, who got a much-deserved standing ovation from Bankers Life Fieldhouse when he exited the game, finishing up with 17 points (8-15 FG) and 15 rebounds, including 4 on the offensive end. Scola was the hustle machine down low and hit a clutch jumper in OT to propel the team to victory.
Rodney Stuckey led all Pacers again with 25 points and had 6 rebounds and 6 assists, looking more and more like the go-to guy for the team — unless David West has something to say about it. West had just 9 points but 6 of them came in the 4th quarter and OT, and his fingerprints were all over the game when the team needed a basket.
George Hill had 17, 4 and 5 despite a nasty fall on his right shoulder late in the game (he hit 2 free throws to seal the game, so he should be OK), and CJ Miles had 14, including a big 3 to give the Pacers the lead for good in OT. CJ Watson chipped in with 10.
With 6 teams jostling for the final 2 playoff spots, every game is important, but perhaps the Pacers are now looking beyond the 7th seed and have their eyes set on the Bucks’ 6th seed, which looked absolutely safe just a couple of weeks ago.
The Pacers (30-34) are now looking almost like a lock for the playoffs even with 18 games still left to play. They have a full game lead on the Miami Heat, who are missing Chris Bosh, dealing with incorporating a hurting Goran Dragic and putting up with Hassan Whiteside’s antics, plus D-Wade’s health is always up in the air. They have a 1.5-game lead over the Hornets, who received some good news today when MRIs on Al Jefferson’s calf and knee came back negative. But that’s still good news for the Pacers because it’s certain that Jefferson will miss some games.
Looking up in the standings, the Pacers trail the Bucks by 3.5 games. That’s a big gap to jump with the number of games remaining, but as Scola said after the game, the Pacers have momentum on their side. The schedule does get much tougher after Boston on Saturday, with games against the Raptors and road games against the Bulls and the Cavs coming up, but the Raptors are struggling and the Bulls are hurt, so they are certainly not unwinnable games. A 6-4 record for the remainder of the month is the minimum the Pacers should be aiming for, and the biggest game for them is the road contest against the Bucks on March 26. The Bucks have a pretty brutal stretch for the rest of the month, with road games against the Grizzlies and Pelicans coming up and finishing up March with Golden State and Atlanta on the schedule.
My bold prediction? Pacers go 7-3 the rest of the month, putting them at 37-37 heading into April, while the Bucks go 3-7 to put their record at 37-38. From there, it’s pretty much a toss up, though the Pacers do have the tougher schedule. They’ll need some help with good teams resting players heading into the playoffs to snatch the 6th seed and avoid a first round matchup with the Hawks or the Cavs.
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