Pacers are climbers, but not conqurers for now

The Pacers lost their sixth straight game Saturday night, a 97-90 loss to  the visiting Washington Wizards. The Pacers are 1-6 on the season with their first six-game losing streak since March of 2011, while the Wizards improved to 5-2.
Forethoughts

Solomon Hill had a career night with 28 points and six rebounds
but it wasn't enough to lift the Pacers to a win Saturday.

The Pacers had every good reason to give up in this one. They were down by 18 after the quarter and had played miserably. They lost the only true starter they had to begin the game in center Roy Hibbert with a bruised knee. One of their bright spots in this season, Chris Copeland, was having pretty much a disaster game. And yet, this team refused to give in, cutting what had been a 22-point deficit in the first half, to three points late in the fourth quarter. It's a pretty odd thing to say, but this it's probably hard to find a more entertaining 1-6 team in recent NBA seasons. But here is the thing about the NBA, you can play with all the heart in the world, but on most nights, talent takes over. And the Pacers right now, with all five starters missing for most of this one, simply didn't have enough talent on the floor to win. Sure, we all  love Copeland and what he can bring to a team on most nights, but he's got limitations. It's been a pleasure to see the progress of point guard Donald Sloan, showing that he definitely belongs in the NBA after rarely getting into games last year. They would be great guys to bring off the bench, which was the original plan, and their effort maybe would be contagious. But they, Solomon Hill (more on him below) and C.J. Miles simply are not starting players in the NBA. I expect the Pacers will continue to play hard and give us all that they have. And that's a good thing that shouldn't be taken for granted. But now we know why we shouldn't take the talents of starters George Hill, David West, Rodney Stuckey, Paul George and Hibbert for granted either.
Big Plays
The key exhcange here came between the 6:49 and 6:02 mark. The Pacers were down three and Solomon Hill  missed a shot, got his own rebound, and  missed again. Then Wizards point guard John Wall  did what good  players do,  taking the ball  right at Pacers rookie big man shayne  Whittington and drawing a foul. Wall  hit the two free throws to make  it a five point game  and that was that.
The Ups
The biggest up in this one without question was the play of Solomon Hill. He has shown significant growth since the regular season started. He is capable of shooting the 3-pointer, has shown a mid-range jumper, hustled after rebounds, can drive into the lane and create his own shot or opportunities for others and didn't embarrass himself when he was forced into emergency point guard duty in a couple of games. So, while no one is projecting Hill to be a superstar, he certainly has shown he is more than capable of being solid NBA player. And with the minutes he will continue to get because of the injuries, it will be interesting to see just how his game continues to develop in the coming weeks. You have to like what you've seen so far.
The Downs
1) Yes, Copeland has shown he is a capable scorer as expected, but this was simply not his night. He finished with 14 points, but was just 1 for 10 from 3-point range. Sure, he's capable of catching fire at any time, but most of his shots looked off as soon as the ball left his hand. Part of his maturation as a player will be learning not to launch so many of those shots when they are not going in.
2) Turnovers have been a key issue this season and Saturday was no exception. The Pacers finished with 18, and maybe that's not too bad considering they had 10 in the first quarter. But a team that is missing so many key pieces can't continually afford to give away possessions.
3) Free throws are one of those basic things and when you are trying to comeback from a big deficit, they are potential points that are difficult to give away. That also hurt their comeback chances as they hit just 11 of 20 free throws in the first three  quarters. If they had hit, say a realistic 15 of 20, they may have taken the lead late in the game, instead of being down by three, and who knows what would've happened  then.
Next Up 
The Pacers play host to the Utah Jazz Monday night. The Jazz are 2-4 going into Sunday night's game at Detroit. They are led by former Butler star Gordon Heyward at 18 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists, Derrick  Favor at 16.3 points and 7.8 rebounds, guard Alex Burks at 14 points, center Enes Kantner at 11.2 points, forward Trevor Booker at 10.8 points and point guard Trey Burke at 10.2 points and four assists.