Okay, so I was skeptical after the 92-75 blowout over the Blazers yesterday. But now I am glad to say the Pacers look like they are officially back on track after another blowout tonight, this time a 111-94 win against arch rivals the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Blazers have been sucking bad lately, so it’s understandable that the Pacers, who had also been struggling of late, would beat them back home in Indiana. This latest win against the 76ers, however, was a statement game. These two teams are similar in many ways, with no real superstar but a bunch of very capable guys playing team basketball.
The Pacers probably have more talent on paper, but the 76ers seem to be more mature and stable. Either way, it was good to get a win against a team they might be facing in the first round of the playoffs, and it’s comforting to know that if the two teams met now, the (25-16) Pacers would have home court advantage against the (25-18) 76ers.
No need to analyze the game too much but it was another team effort. Whereas last night the biggest surprise was porn star Lou Amundson’s career high 21 points on 10-11 shooting, tonight it was the team’s overall 56.6% shooting from the field with only 7 turnvoers.
David West appears to be finally rounding into form with his 18-point, 8-12 night, and Granger shot well with 20 points on 8-13. Hibbert had 14 and 9 with a team high 5 assists and 3 blocks (about time he snapped out of it) and George Hill led the reserves with 17 points, 7 boards and 4 assists on 7-10 shooting, while Hansbrough had another good one with 14 points on 6-9 shooting.
Solid effort, and it will be interesting to see if they can keep it up with an away-and-home against Linsanity and the New York Knicks, who appear to have locked up a win at last against the Blazers (game in progress as I type).
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