Good thing the Knicks such so bad. Just hours after news broke that Chris Copeland was stabbed outside a New York night club, the Pacers regrouped and thumped the Knicks 102-86 to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Paul George netted 10 points in 16 minutes in his second game back, but shot just 2-7 from the field and needed 5 of 6 free throws to get to double digits. George Hill led the way with an easy 20, 6 and 5 in just 27 minutes. David West was 5-5 from the field and finished with 11, Roy Hibbert had an 11-11 double-double, and CJ Miles added 13.
The good news is that Brooklyn lost against the Hawks (barely), but the bad news is that Boston continued its hot streak by putting away Detroit with ease, meaning the Pacers remain a game behind both teams and tied with Miami with just 4 games left in the season. But just pulling even with Boston or Brooklyn is not enough as the Pacers don’t hold the tiebreaker (though they do hold it against Miami).
On a side note, Charlotte effectively ended their playoff hopes by getting thrashed by Toronto, so the race for the final 2 seeds in the East will come down to four teams: Boston, Brooklyn, Indiana and Miami.
Looking ahead, the Pacers still have to play @Detroit, OKC, Washington and @Memphis. That’s a tough stretch of games, with all but Detroit fighting for playoff position. Realistically speaking, the Pacers will probably need to win all 4, or at least 3 of 4, to have a chance of making the playoffs.
You would have to think that Brooklyn can win at least 2 of 4 against Washington, @Milwaukee, Chicago, and Orlando. Boston might have an easier road than envisioned despite playing the Cavs twice (home and away) because they have locked up the second seed and could choose to rest players. Miami’s not out of it either because they’ve got 3 home games remaining and play Orlando and Philly in their last 2.
So realistically, this race is going down to the wire, and the Pacers will be on the outside looking in the rest of the way, with any missteps likely to knock them out. Is getting a lottery pick better than getting knocked out of the first round? There are positives to take out of either scenario, so I’m just going to relax and enjoy whatever outcome eventuates.
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