Pacers could be in trouble

The Pacers lost to the visiting Washington Wizards 102-96 Monday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Game 2 of the seven game series is set for Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Forethoughts

George Hill had 18 points in Monday night's loss.

To put it bluntly, the Pacers are in trouble and that is not some type of panic statement after a loss. The Wizards are not the Hawks. Washington has five very good and skilled players that are and will be difficult to defend. Ironically, the now confident Wizards may have gotten that boost when they defeated the Pacers 91-78 back on March 28. Starting with that game, the Wizards are now 13-4 since then. And it's not by accident. In a way, the Wizards remind me of that Pacers team back in the 1994 playoffs. A sixth seed that most don't really account for, but one that is playing well at the right time. That 1994 Pacers team swept the No. 3 seed Magic 3-0 back when first-round series were five games. The Wizards dispatched an admittedly offensively challenged Bulls' team 4-1. The 1994 Pacers also went in to Atlanta and defeated the Hawks in the first game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Wizards did the same with the Pacers. The Pacers went on to beat the Hawks in six games. What will happen in this series remains to be seen. The thing about this Wizards team though, is that when things start to go a bit awry, they don't go panic and make crazy passes or take crazy shots. They have some veterans who know how to win in Trevor Ariza and even Drew Gooden off the bench. They have a super-talented guard duo in Bradley Beal and John Wall. The Pacers definitely have their hands full here. Playing pretty decent won't really cut it  in this series. They'll need their best effort in every game in order to have a chance to win. I didn't think the Pacers played all that bad in this game. It's going to take more than B type of effort to win these games. It will be interesting to see if the Pacers can come up with something better for four times against Washington.
The Big Plays
This game turned in the final minutes of the second half. The Pacers were down three with 4:46 to go in the second quarter after a Luis Scola jumper. But helped by two 3-pointers by Ariza and one by Beal in the final minutes, the Pacers were down 13 at the half. They were never closer that six the rest of the way, except when it got to 5 for a second with a late 3-point barrage that made the final score look closer then the game really was.
The Ups
1) I'm just trying to figure out the good stuff here and it's pretty difficult. Scola played a decent game with 12 points and five rebounds. I thought Hill did a respectable job of keeping Wall in front of him for most of the game. But other than that . . .
The Downs
1) You think if the Pacers had learned anything from the Hawks series it would be to defend the 3-point line. So, Ariza comes out and goes 6 for 6 from 3-point land. And while Beal hit a couple of difficult 3-pointers, he was 3-for-5 from behind the line. In all, the Hawks hit 10 of 16 from behind 3-point range. They are not all great 3-point shooters, but they do have a couple of guys that can't be left alone.
2) It's true that Pacers center Roy Hibbert was in foul trouble most of the night, but the Pacers are going to have a real difficult time beating the Wizards if he doesn't score or get a rebound. It's that simple, really.
3) When looking at the numbers, Evan Turner didn't play a bad game. Seven points off the bench is helpful. But the bottom line here is he can't be trusted on the defensive end. He doesn't have the foot speed to stay with someone like Beal. Turner is not a playoff-type defender. It wouldn't bother me at all to see Vogel go with a rotation of Hill, C.J. Watson, Lance Stephenson and Paul George to defend Wall, Ariza and Beal.
Next Up
Just as the case was against Atlanta, the Pacers pretty much need a win Wednesday night to have realistic hopes in this series. Their No. 1 priority should be to make Beal and Ariza uncomfortable when they have the ball and when they are shooting. It won't be easy, but it's what they'll have to do if they want to win this series.