Watson answers the call in win at Charlotte

The Pacers improved to 14-1 with a 99-74 win at Charlotte Wednesday night.

The Big Picture

This was one of the uglier games to watch in terms of nobody being able to put the ball into the basket, especially in the third quarter However, it's a bottom-line league and coming up with the win was the most important thing here. It's not one that fans want to remember, but is probably a good one for the Pacers coaches to pull out if they ever feel the team is getting overconfident. Some say the Pacers record is a result of a weak schedule, but a good sign here is that they beat an average team with ease.

The Ups

C.J. Watson hit five 3-pointers in the second half
to give the Pacers a much needed boost in this win

1) The Pacers needed someone to step up in this one. Since Paul George was on the bench in foul trouble for most of the third quarter, it was a good assumption to think it would be him when he re-entered the game in the fourth quarter. But no, this time it was reserve guard C.J. Watson who took the lid off the basket by hitting his first six 3-pointers of the game, including five straight late in the third quarter and then throughout the fourth quarter. Watson finished with 18 points on 6 of 7 shooting from 3-point range. Watson had played just OK up to this point of the season, but even before Wednesday night he was without question an upgrade over D.J. Augustin from last year and A.J. Price from two years ago. I guess maybe Larry Bird got the right first initial for his reserve point guard this season.

2) Well, since the shooting was so bad in this game, you have to say the defense had something to do with it. Indiana high school basketball coaching legend Howard Sharpe once told me if you play poorly, the other team is at least partly responsible. Pacers fans have known this team doesn't have to shoot well in order to keep playing hard. And while this game was difficult to watch at times, they still didn't allow very many easy shots.
3)Watching these road games on TV, it's great to see so many fans wearing Pacers jerseys and shirts in the stands. While some may say they are jumping on the bandwagon and don't like that, I say come on in and join the party. It's great to be a fan of a team who has people wanting to jump on the bandwagon for once. It's been an enjoyable ride so far this season and I say the more the merrier.

4) The fourth quarter was thankfully, a complete contrast to the third quarter. The Pacers scored 39 points in the fourth partly because of Watson's shooting, but also because they started moving the ball and making good passes. It was as if they remembered how to play offense again. OK, we can relax now.
The Downs

1) Shooting. Yes, we love defense and rebounding and blocked shots and hustle, all of that stuff for sure. But the object of the game is to put the ball in the basket and neither team was really adept at that for large parts of Wednesday night's game. At one point in the third quarter the Pacers were shooting 17 percent in the period and the Bobcats were at 14 percent. For the game, the Pacers used a late surge to finished at 38 percent and the Bobcats finished at 31. Some of these shots were challenged, but some were of the open variety, too.

2) We understand the the officials need to have control of the game. But maybe Dick Bavetta, John Goble and Bill Kennedy were just in a bad mood because they wanted the day before Thanksgiving off. In all, they called 50 fouls in this game and the third quarter was real paint dryer, grass grower, whatever you want to call. It was tough to watch even though the Pacers were adding to their lead.

Afterthoughts

The big five-game road trip is looming beginning Sunday at the Clippers, so it's important for the Pacers to win these types of games and win them with some ease. They still have the Wizards Friday night at home before heading out West. This game won't go down as one of their best of any season, but it was important they didn't let the home team Bobcats hang around and take it down to the wire.

Next up

The Pacers play host to the Washington Wizards Friday night. The Wizards are improved this season and part of the reason for that is the elevated play of point guard John Wall. He's been on a real roll lately and is averaging 19.5 points and nine assists per game. The Pacers do get a bit of break as Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal is out with stress injury in his leg. Beal is averaging just over 20 points per game.