Pacers pull even behind Hibbert

The Pacers defeated the visiting Washington Wizards 86-82 to even their Eastern Conference Semifinal series at 1-1 Wednesday night. Game 3 of the series will be at 8 p.m. Friday in Washington.
Forethoughts

Pacers center Roy Hibbert finished with a season-high
28 points and added nine rebounds in Wednesday's win.

Well, that was a little better. Or at least good enough and when you're in the second round of the playoffs that's really all that matters. Let's be glad that Pacers coach Frank Vogel didn't listen to almost everybody else and not start Roy Hibbert. Yes, it's true the Pacers don't have to get 28 points from Hibbert in every game to win this series, but they do need him to be a legitimate offensive threat. If Vogel had benched Hibbert it would have actually lessened the Pacers chances in this game and for the series. Hibbert has worked too hard and come too far to give up on him now. And well, he also makes a lot of money to be benched, but that's a different topic. The point is, the Wizards defense must now account for the possibility of Hibbert being a scorer too. And let's face it, even if Hibbert gets a couple of baskets early on, that helps him on the defensive end as well. That's not a knock on him at all, that's just the way it is with most basketball players no matter what level you're talking about. And as nice it was to get offense from Hibbert in this game, having him be an active defensive presence is more important and that's why Vogel couldn't pull the plug on the big guy. And while the Pacers might not need Hibbert to score 28 points to win more games in this series, they will need him to show the kind of infectious confidence he did in Wednesday's win, and that's why Vogel did indeed have to gamble on Hibbert.
The Big Plays
There were three straight key possessions in this game. With the Pacers down 77-74 with five minutes to go, Hibbert made an unorthodox but effective move to the basket to get the Pacers within one. Lance Stephenson's steal and pass to George Hill put the Pacers ahead for good at 78-77, then Paul George's drive and dunk put the Pacers up by three with 3:38 to go.
The Ups
1) Well yes there was Hibbert with his 28 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots. Maybe it started earlier in the day when the Pacers said goodbye to injured center Andrew Bynum. Maybe it was a visit and talk from Hibbert's Georgetown coach John Thompson III. Maybe it was Hibbert just hearing and seeing all the stuff being said and written about how bad he had been (and most of that type of stuff would have been accurate). But whatever it was, the Pacers can only hope there are similar playoff performances like this one left in Hibbert.
2) The Pacers defense at the 3-point line was poor in the first game as the Wizards hit 10 of 16 shots there. It was completely different in this one as the Wizards hit just 5 of 21 shots from behind the arc. The Wizards don't necessarily live or die with the 3-pointer like the Hawks did, but it is a legitimate part of their arsenal and the Pacers need to continue to respect that.
3) The numbers for Pacers guard George Hill don't necessarily jump off the page. He had 14 points of 6 of 12 shooting with four rebounds, three assists and a steal. But Hill's aggressiveness on offense was an important part of this win, too. And that steal from John Wall in the final minute was a big play as well.
The Downs
1) One area the Pacers still need to improve on in this series is rebounding. They lost the battle there 43-38, which may not be a big margin. However, the problem here is that they allowed 11 offensive rebounds to the Wizards and they were fortunate the Wizards had only four second chance points.
2) Some of the TNT studio announcers and in-game analyst Chris Webber said the pacers weren't playing their game by going to Hibbert so much down low. What they don't understand is that when the Pacers were at their best in the first half of the season, they played a pretty simple brand of basketball: Whoever has the hot hand gets the ball. So, while it's true Hibbert averaged just over 11 points during the regular season, his availability on offense was important, even if he wasn't scoring a lot. So, it's true, the Pacers may need George to score 30 points to win one of these games and if that's what it takes to win, that will be fine, too.
Next Up
In the big picture of this seven-game series, the Wizards did what they wanted by winning a game in Indianapolis. The Pacers won two games on the road in Atlanta and they'll be on a mission to win one of these next two in Washington. At some point, the Pacers will have to win two straight to win the series and getting one of these next two would be ideal, instead of waiting to do that in Games 6 and 7 like they did with Atlanta. The Pacers have proven themselves road tough in the playoffs and even for a large part of the regular season, so it won't surprise me if they do get one of these next two in Washington.