The Celtics turned four Pacers turnovers into eight points late on Wednesday in a 103-94 Boston win. (redsarmy.com)

Sundays At The Bank: Lost Leads Loom Large

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Ross Weber; @rweberI65
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The Pacers have blown four 4th quarter leads in the last ten games. Time to hit the panic button?
Game Notes:
Game 37: Houston 107, Indiana 103 (OT)
Yet another blown fourth quarter lead, this time a 13 point lead, that results in an overtime loss for the Indiana Pacers. This is becoming a disturbing trend as the Pacers have lost three games like this over the last two weeks. If Indiana wants to get home field advantage for a playoff series, they can’t be dropping games like this that should be wins.
 
Game 38: Indiana 116, Phoenix 97
Speaking of games that should be wins, the Pacers took over in the third quarter against this dreadful Suns team when Monta Ellis and Paul George decided to attack the basket and take over the basketball game. Unsurprisingly, it resulted in a 36-21 fourth quarter in favor of Indiana. Not a bad recipe for success if you ask me.
 
Game 39: Boston 103, Indiana 94
Again? Really? Another blown fourth quarter lead, this time because of four consecutive turnovers that resulted in three Celtics layups. Another win that was (literally) thrown away due to poor play down the stretch, something needs to change.
 
Game 40: Washington 118, Indiana 104
A bad week finishes in the worst way with by far one of the worst overall performances the team has put together this season. The turnovers, poor shooting, poor defense not only in the half court but in transition, it was miserable and not a way to leave town going on a west coast road trip.
 
Week in Review:
This team has won just 4 of their last 10 games, but I can argue that they should have own at least seven of those games. Three losses were in overtime after blowing fourth quarter leads and there was a fourth blown lead in the road game against Boston. It’s as much of a worst case scenario when going on a west coast road trip as you can have.
 
Who’s Hot? Who’s Not?
Hot: Ian Mahinmi
Mahinmi earns this spot for the second week in a row, because right now it’s hard to find anything he’s really doing wrong especially on the offensive end. He’s finishing by the basket really well (17/23 shooting in the last four games) and setting good screens to help get teammates open. It’s hard to really get the ball to him a lot in games considering where he is at his best is in a pick and roll half court set, but he has shown that it’s a play that Indiana should go to more often when they need a basket.
 
Not: C.J. Miles
It’s a shame to see him back down here in the “not hot” section, but he can’t hit anything right now. He is 13/41 from the field in the last four games, and is 6/26 from three in that span as well. For a guy who was so hot at the beginning of the season (shooting 43.7% from three in November down to 26.0% in January so far) it is difficult to see him struggling so much.
 
Stat of the Week:
Pacers starting point guard George Hill is shooting 53.6% from three point range this month, which has helped his total shooting percentage from downtown for the season up to a career high 43.0%. It has been said by Pacers fans for the past three or four years that if Hill was just more aggressive that he would make a positive impact on the team. He’s been more aggressive since the calendar turned to January and it has been a true bright spot during the team’s struggles.
 
One Thing I Think:
I think this team needs Rodney Stuckey to get healthy and fast. He isn’t the most talented guy, and he doesn’t always make the biggest impact while out there, but he is a positive impact while on the floor, especially on the offensive end. He’s averaging 9.8 points per game off the bench and almost every time he touches the ball he attacks the basket and attempts to create shots close to the hoop. Without him as the first guy off the bench the last couple of games, Frank Vogel has been looking many different directions to no avail. Unless someone can step up and take Stuckey’s place, the bench will continue to struggle to make impacts early in games.
 
This Week’s Schedule:
Sunday, January 17th: @ Denver Nuggets (15-25)
Tuesday, January 19th: @ Phoenix Suns (13-28)
Friday, January 22nd: @ Golden State Warriors (37-4)
Saturday, January 23rd: @ Sacramento Kings (17-23)
A couple of tough games, also a couple of winnable games, so splitting this four game road trip 2-2 is necessary to get things turned around.