Pacers show a little pride in big win over Bulls

The visiting Pacers defeated the Chicago Bulls 99-90 Saturday night. The Pacers are now 4-7 while the Bulls are 7-3.
Forethoughts

A.J. Price came off the bench to score 21 points in the Pacers win Saturday night.

After getting embarrassed at home by the Denver Nuggest Friday night it was a given that the Pacers would come out with a better effort against the Bulls. But as has been the case in many of their games this season, the question was if that effort would be rewarded with a win. But the Pacers came out active, led by Luis Scola, from the beginning, and walked out of Chicago with their second road win of the week. Sure the Bulls are without star guard Derrick Rose, but as far as the Bulls are concerned, after missing almost all of the last two seasons, it's almost a surprise to see him on the court. Of course, some of the key players in this Pacers win did not see a lot of major minutes on the court last season. So, yes, mark one up for the underdogs once again.
Key Plays
The Pacers led 77-71 with 9:25 to go and then essentially put this one away with a 10-0 run while holding the Bulls without a point for the next 4:41. A.J. Price hit two 3-pointers in that run to give the Pacers a 3-1 record this week.
The Ups
1) It;s hard to believe that Price was not on an NBA team to begin the season. Price has certainly been worth the price the Pacers paid for him thanks to a roster exemption because of so many injuries. He has been a solid defender, which he always was, but now his offensive game has matured to the point where he has confidence to take and hit 3-pointers, as well as take guards off the dribble when the offense is breaking down. The Pacers have won four games now, and Price has played a major role in two of them. On this night, Price finished with 21 points
1) If the Pacers want to compete they need more games like this from Luis Scola. He was active from the beginning with 8 points and 6 rebounds midway through the first quarter. Scola finished with 21 poiints and 11 rebounds. But it's not just the numbers here. His energy was good throughout the game and maybe that was helped by his ability to hit that little 17-foot jumper from the elbow shot that he was open for during much of the game.
2) Solomon Hill continues to impress. There's no question that when George Hill and Rodney Stuckey return that Hill should remain a starter. He is a versatile offensive player and also a hard worker on defense. And with this current group of Pacers, when Solomon Hill is not on the court it's hard for them to compete at times. He ended up with 21 points and 10 rebounds in this one.
The Downs
1) As far as rookies go from the last two nights, it seems kind of hard to believe the Bulls traded Gary Harris to the Nuggets for Doug McDermott. Harris looked like the real deal in his first NBA game, while McDermott, while looking like a capable shooter for the Bulls, still has more of a work in progress look.
2) Damjan Rudez came to the Pacers as sort of designated shooter, and while he has hit an occasional 3-pointer, so far he's not been one of those "oh, no" guys for opponents when he lets the ball go. While his playing time will likely diminish a bit when Rodney Stuckey returns to health, up to this point, Rudez has missed too many shots during this opportunity to continue see ample playing time when others return to health.
Next Up
The Pacers get a few days off before they host the Charlotte Hornets Wednesday night. The Hornets were 4-5 going into their late game at Golden State Saturday night. They will host Dallas Monday. Of course, the big deal here is that it will be the return ot ex-Pacer Lance Stephenson, who signed with the Hornets as a free agent this offseason. Stephenson is averaging 9.2 points, 10.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists. The Hornets have some other firepower to in center Al Jefferson at 21.7 points and 6.9 rebounds, guard Kemba Walker at 15.9 points, guard Gary Neal at 13.1 points and swingman Michael Kidd Gilchrist at 9.8.

An ugly win and the Bynum factor

The Pacers defeated the visiting Brooklyn Nets 97-96 Saturday night. The Pacers are now 36-10 while the Nets are 20-25.
The Big Plays
The Nets hung around in this game and the score was 76-76 when Pacers center Roy Hibbert made a nice up an under move, where he made the basket and also was fouled and made the free throw to give the Pacers the lead for good with 6:50 remaining. Another key play came with 57 seconds left when the Pacers were up by three and David West banked in a 10-footer. George Hill also made a key free throw with the Pacers up three in the final 30 seconds to keep it a two possession game and West made two free throws to put the lead at three points with 7.6 seconds left. West also hit another free throw with 4.2 seconds left to give the Pacers a four-point lead, which was key, since the Nets' Deron Williams hit a 3-pointer for what turned out to be the final score.
The Ups
1) For the second straight game the Pacers took advantage of center Roy Hibbert inside. After scoring 26 points in a loss against the Suns Thursday, he came back with 20 points Saturday night. Hibbert may have also had the most entertaining move of the night in the third quarter, when with the shot clock running down and standing at the edge of the free-throw line, he took two dribbles, made a ball fake pass to the middle, and then went in for the layup and was fouled. Roy the point guard, at least for a moment, also made that free throw to complete the three-point play. It brought a smile from Hibbert and some key points to the Pacers to put them up by 10 at the moment. Hibbert also added five rebounds and three blocked shots and as usual, just his presence in the paint keeps opponents outside the lane, making them take lower percentage shots.

Pacers power forward David West finished with
17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists Saturday.

2) When it comes to triple-double watches, Pacers fans usually think of Lance Stephenson. But the guy who got sort of close to that Saturday night was power forward David West. He finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. He also hit those key free throws in the final seconds. And while all those things were important for this game, West's presence and leadership on the team has to be one the reasons that Pacers President Larry Bird felt the team could take the risk of signing Andrew Bynum.
3) One of the reasons the Pacers were able to win this one was because they easily won the rebound battle. They outrebounded the Nets 46-27, including getting eight rebounds from Paul George, along with seven each from West, Stephenson and Luis Scola. This game wasn't pretty to watch by any stretch, but the rebounding helped cover many of the Pacers mistakes.
The Downs
1) A lot of those mistakes were turnovers. The Pacers finished 23 for the game, and they had six of them in the third quarter. The disturbing thing about many of them is that they came on passes that really weren't necessary and were sometimes forced. The Pacers were fortunate to be catching the Nets on a second night of a back-to-back on this one, or the final result could have been different.
2) The Pacers bench continued its recent inefficiencies. Against the Nets they hit just 4 of 18 shots from the field, bringing their shooting total in the last four games to 36 of 113. Hopefully this is a midseason slump, but it's one of the reasons the Pacers have to give Andrew Bynum try (more on that below).
Afterthoughts
This may have been one of the Pacers ugliest wins of the season. It was as if they were still getting used to being home after coming home from their West Coast trip. That was understandable for Thursday, but not really for Saturday, especially with the Nets on the second night of a back-to- back. But nonetheless, a win is a win, and every team is glad to get them and nobody gives them back. These ups and downs are somewhat typical in a long NBA season, it's just good that the Pacers can win on at least a good number of these nights when they aren't at their best. The Pacers are 22-2 at home and now have beat the Nets all four times they have played them this season, so however you want to slice it, those are good things.
The Signing

The Pacers hope they get something
close the Lakers' version of Andrew Bynum.

The big news off the court came early Saturday morning when the Pacers announced they had signed free agent center Andrew Bynum for the rest of the season. One of big questions here is how will Bynum fit in with a team that has chemistry as one of its strengths. Bynum had signed a two-year deal with Cleveland before the season and averaged just over eight points and five rebounds before the Cavaliers essentially kicked him off the team, even though it officially came in a trade with the Bulls for Luol Deng. It's become apparent in the last couple of weeks that the Pacers' bench needed a boost, especially with little offensive output from backup center Ian Mahinmi. The fact that Bynum lasted longer than a month is obviously not a good sign either. But in an odd sort of way, that may actually work in the Pacers favor.
The fact he went unsigned for so long may have sent a bit of message to Bynum that he's not the hot commodity that he thought he was. He knows he needs to make a good impression with his attitude as well as be an effective player on the court to try and impress a potential suitor for next year. And the fact that the Pacers are likely to make a deep run into the playoffs, can also only help him. If Bynum can play a positive role in that run, he knows that will only help his value. So, this might not be as risky of a move as it appears. You also have to look down the road here a bit too, in that if Hibbert gets in foul trouble in a key playoff game, Bynum certainly has the potential to give the Pacers quality minutes off the bench. And finally, too, if the Pacers fall to the Heat again in the Eastern Conference finals, and they had not signed Bynum, they would have been left asking the "what if?" question. At least the front office can know it did all it could to make this a championship team. That's all you can really ask of them. Signing Bynum is not a slam dunk to work, but the decision to at least give it a try was a slam dunk.
Next Up
The Pacers play host to the Orlando Magic in a 7 p.m. game Monday. The Pacers opened the season with a 97-87 win against the Magic. Orlando has struggled as expected for much of this season with a 13-35 record going into their Sunday afternoon game at Boston. The Magic have been led by guard Arron Afflalo at 20 points per game. They also have rookie and former Indiana University star Victor Oladipo and Tobias Harris each at 13.9 points a game, Jameer Nelson at 13.4 points, Nic Vucevic at 13.1 points and 10.8 rebounds and Glen Davis at 12.6 points. The Magic had particularly rough January where they went 3-14 for the month.

It's a sunny-side down return home for Pacers

The Pacers suffered their second home loss of the season with a 102-94 defeat against the Phoenix Suns Thursday night. The Pacers fell to 35-10 and no longer have the best record in the league. The Suns are now at 28-18.
The Big Plays
The Pacers trailed throughout in this one, but were within striking distance midway through fourth quarter, being down one point with 3:48 to go. But on the next two Suns' possession, Gerald Green hit about a 15-foot jump shot and then Marcus Morris hit a 3-pointer to put the Suns up by six. The Pacers got it to within four points late, but never had the ball and a chance to tie game. The Pacers only basket after the 3:48 mark was a short turnaround jumper by George Hill with 1:48 remaining to cut the gap to four.
The Ups
1) Lance Stephenson did get snubbed for the all-star game, but he played like an all-star for most of the night. He finished with his fourth triple-double of the season with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Stephenson's issue's on this night was that he was in foul trouble, and couple of them were silly reach in fouls, that kept him off the court for most of the fourth quarter when the Pacers really needed him while they were in the midst of trying to come back. He also had five turnovers. But still, Stephenson showed that even though he wasn't selected for the all-star team, that he will likely continue to play like one.

Pacers center Roy Hibbert had 26 points, six rebounds and two blocks,
but it wasn't enough to prevent a loss to the Phoenix Suns Thursday night.

2) One of the Pacers big advantages in this game was their inside game and they took full advantage of that with center Roy Hibbert, who was named to the all-star team as a reserve earlier in the night. Hibbert finished with 26 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. He also had eight of his points in the third quarter while hitting all four of his shots as the Pacers cut the Suns lead from 17 to three points by the end of the quarter. Hibbert also played his usual good defense, especially in the second half when he made things difficult for the offensively talented Suns.
3) The Pacers second-half defense was much more what they have played like most of this season, when they allowed 36 points in the second half to the high scoring Suns. The Suns hit just 12 of 30 shots in the second half for 40 percent. Pacers fans can only hope that is a sign of things to come in the near future.
The Downs
1) And then there was that first half defense. The Suns scored 66 points and shot 52 percent in the half and left-handed guard Goran Dragic tormented the Pacers by scoring 21 points, scoring when it at times it looked like he had nowhere to go. The Suns also had 14 fastbreak points in the first half, and that was a pretty disturbing number considering for the most part, it's just a matter of hustle  when it comes to getting back on defense.
2) It's always a tough call when it comes to picking reserves for the all-star team and somebody always gets left out. And in this case one of those guys was Stephenson. One of the real problems here was that the Heat's Dwyane Wade was voted in by the fans, and also that there was no voting for a true center. The means an extra guard type player was voted in, leaving room for one less reserve guard or small forward. Another big question here is that the Nets' Joe Johnson made it on this team averaging 15 points per game on a team that has had a disappointing season. Stephenson has been an all-around key player on a team with one of the best records in the league. So, that's the rub here. The two face off Saturday night, so it will be interesting to see who wins that battle.
3) The Pacers bench has been a bit inconsistent lately. It was thought that with the return of Danny Granger from injury, and even a subpar Granger, that the bench would at least be fortified. And with C.J. Watson and Luis Scola that was the case for a while. But lately, that's not been the case. In the last five games, that trio has combined to shoot 32 of 95 from the field for just under 34 percent. They combined to score just seven points Thursday, while the Suns bench scored 40. The Suns have a deep bench, so it's not an embarrassment to get outscored by them somewhat, but it is an embarrassment to get outscored by that much.
Afterthoughts
This was a tough game for the Pacers for a couple of reasons. First, no matter who the opponent is, the first game back after being on a long road trip (five games in this case) is always a tough one. And then, too, the Suns play their traditional brand of small ball, which causes a bigger playoff-built team like the Pacers some fits. It would have been nice to see the Pacers come out with a little toughness in the first half, but at least they did find it in the second half. Hopefully it will carry over into Saturday's game against the Nets.
Next Up
The Nets visit the Pacers in a 7 p.m. game Saturday. The Nets got off to a disappointing start, but have won 10 of their 12 games in January and are at 23-25 heading into Friday night's home game against Oklahoma City. The Nets have been led by Johnson and his 15 points, Paul Pierce and Deron Williams at 13 points and Andray Blatche at 12 points a game. The Nets also lost center Brooke Lopez for the season after just 17 games this year so they look to Kevin Garnett and Blatche for rebounding help and they average seven and six rebounds each. Each of the Nets two losses in January have come to the Raptors. The Nets are playing better so the Pacers had better be prepared for a tough battle. The Pacers have won the first three meetings against the Nets this season, 96-91 back in November and 103-86 and then 105-91 each in December.