Pacers relish road warrior role

The visiting Pacers defeated the Washington Wizards 95-92 Sunday night to take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series. Game 5 will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Forethoughts

Paul George had 39 points, including 28
in the second half, in Sunday's win at Washington.

The Pacers took complete control of this series by doing what they did for much of the first half of the season . . . completely controlling the third quarter of this game. There will always be those NBA naysayers who will point to the last two minutes of  a game being all that matters in the league, but if they missed the third quarter in this game then they missed some key moments as the Pacers won the quarter 33-17. Also, no matter how many post-game and pre-game commentators debate on whether the Pacers are back or not, they've done something in these playoffs that no other team has done this year: That's win four straight road playoff games. And it doesn't matter what seed you are playing against, or what the situation is, that's not something easily done in the NBA, where playing at home is a bigger advantage than in the NFL, Major League Baseball or the NHL. There are thousands of voices there rooting for the home team and when a team has that kind of vocal backing it often believes it can accomplish anything. The road team has only itself to reinforce each other in moments of doubt. What the Pacers have done in these last two games in Washington shows that this Pacers team has plenty of belief in itself. And sure, we were all worried on some level after the Pacers late-season struggles and the difficult time they had beating Atlanta in the first round of the playoffs. Now the main worry is just to eliminate Washington in Game 5 Tuesday night, and that's a pretty good concern to have.
The Big Plays
There were two key stretches in this game. First, the Pacers, being down 68-51 with six minutes left in the third quarter, used a 17-2 run to get back into this one and were down 72-71 to end the third. Then they were down 85-76 with 7:09 to go and then used a 16-6 run to take the lead for good at 92-91 on two Paul George free throws with 1:47 to go.
The Ups
1) And speaking of Paul George, this was certainly a reminder of what he did in the first half season at times, taking over a game when his team really needed him. He finished with 39 points, including 28 points in the second half on 7 of 10 shooting, including 6 of 8 from 3-point land. It's hard to get much better than that. The way he played in this one reminded me of that 43-point game at Portland earlier in the season, but this one was better because the Pacers lost that game in Portland, but they won this one and this is the playoffs. Let's not forget too that George continued his strong rebounding in the playoffs (he's averaging 9.7 rebounds in the postseason) with 12 in this one.
2) The second-half defense was what we saw for the whole game on Friday, but we'll take this anyway. The Pacers were lulled into a bit of an offensive game early on Sunday night, as both teams shot well early. That free-flowing running-up-and-down style works for Washington, but generally not for a full game for the Pacers. After Washington shot 54 percent in the first half, helped by 18 fast break points, they shot just 35 percent in the second half with zero fast break points. The Pacers also outrebounded the Wizards 24-14 overall in the second half and allowed the Wizards just two offensive rebounds in the second half.
3) Pacers center Roy Hibbert, too, was a big part of that defensive and rebounding effort. He finished with 17 points and nine rebounds and was active on the defensive with two blocked shots while also changing several shots just with his presence. The fact that the opponents' defense now has to respect Hibbert after three straight strong games also probably coincides with the fact that George is getting at least a few more open looks a game. With Hibbert being a legimate threat now, it makes the Pacers a hard team to beat.
4) Andrew Bynum's official exit from the team has coincided with three straight wins and three straight strong games from Hibbert. Coincidence or not, it's hard to ignore that fact.
The Downs
1) The final minute was actually much more interesting than it should have been in this game. First, Pacers point guard George Hill had an open look and decided to make one more pass just after Lance Stephenson had vacated the corner, leading to a turnover. Then, Stephenson secured the rebound with a three-point lead in the final seconds, only to panic and throw the ball toward George, only to have it stolen by Beal, who was fouled by George. Beal missed one of the two free throws as the Pacers led 94-92. Then Hill was fouled with 6.8 seconds left, but hit just one of two free throws, giving the Wizards some hope. If the Pacers make the right play in any one of those situations, we wouldn't have needed the last second drama.
2) On the Wizards side of this for a second, the Pacers had the ball out of bounds with 1.7 seconds left and once they got it in, the Wizards, down three, didn't foul. And yes, it's true the Wizards were out of timeouts and it would have taken a miracle to get some kind of decent shot off in the event of two missed free throws, don't they at least have to try?
3) Part of the pregame in-depth analysis by ESPN's Bill Simmons on what the Wizards needed to do to win was to play better and make their open shots. Yes, genius stuff.
Next Up
The Pacers will look to clinch this series at home Tuesday night. And for all of the talk on whether the Pacers are really back or not, Charles Barkley made a valid point on the TNT post-game show. He said if the Pacers want to really prove they are back to their mid-season form, they must close out the series in Game 5. The Wizards certainly looked deflated in those final seconds Sunday night and losing two straight at home in the playoffs will do that to a team. But I expect they will come out with a nothing-to-lose attitude Tuesday, ready to push the pace again and fire away. The Pacers are a team that some (I'm talking mostly ESPN and TNT talking heads) are not sure they can believe in yet. A convincing win in Game 5 would take away all doubt.