Conseco: Home of Giant-Slayers?

by Steve Weinman on Dec 3, 2008 1:22 AM EST in NBA Comment 18 comments

Winning basketball games against the rest of the NBA at large hasn't exactly been the Indiana Pacers' forte thus far this season. Against the 27 other teams that didn't make the 2008 NBA Finals, the Pacers are 5-10 this season.

But bring those finalists to town, and Jim O'Brien's boys become a completely different team.

Celts fans won't soon forget the shellacking the Pacers administered on the first Saturday night of the season when the green came out sluggish. But the good news is that our boys are no longer alone in the stunned-by-Indiana department. Hello, purple and gold!

Instead of the end-to-end pasting they laid on the Celts, the Pacers decided to wait until the final period to break out the magic on Tuesday. They gave up 17 straight points to head into the fourth quarter trailing by 15 to what was the league's only remaining one-loss team.

No longer. Indy dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring the Lakers by a 32-16 count, and they won it in as dramatic a fashion as possible: a tip from Troy Murphy that bounced on the rim and then dropped in just as the red light went on to signal the game's conclusion. Murphy finished with 16 points and 17 boards, and Danny Granger poured in 32 points.

In addition to the loss, it's hard to imagine this one will help the Lakers jump back ahead of the Celts in defensive efficiency, where the green recently reclaimed the top spot.

Kudos to the Pacers for a big performance. Here's hoping the Lakers got them nice and tired for their upcoming trip to the TD Banknorth Garden later tonight.

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Granger, C's #1, and me..

My understanding was that we were after Granger in the draft, but the Pacers snagged him and that led to us selecting Gerald Green. (‘Best talent available’…) The rest well.. I have liked Grangers game since college.

So then, we’re now the #1 Team in the league (by wins/loses, we were already the #1 Team..)

I received two tix to the Celtics vs. Lakers on Christmas Day for my birthday (12/3). I hope the players give up as many points then as they did tonight. Thier ‘defense’ is almost back to where it was last year.

by teaguelife on Dec 3, 2008 1:40 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

A very happy birthday, teaguelife!

Is it uncouth of me to ask how many this is?

-sw

Manuel Aristides Ramirez is the greatest hitter I've ever seen.

by Steve Weinman on Dec 3, 2008 1:42 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks!

by teaguelife on Dec 3, 2008 1:53 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

not at all!

37 years young!

by teaguelife on Dec 3, 2008 1:53 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Conundrum

I honestly can’t decided which I like more – a Celtics win or a Lakers loss.

I went to bed a happy man last night.

BTW, both Lakers losses are against Eastern teams. Small sample size, but still.

by nachoman on Dec 3, 2008 7:00 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Only one,game, but getting outscored 32-16 in the 4Q and letting Troy-boy own the boards? May the specter of Laker softness past doesnt have a stake through its heart after all. Doesnt do much to burnish Kobe’s “son of Airness” pretentions, either (heheh).

by Tenacious D on Dec 3, 2008 7:57 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

yeah obie and yeah larry.—our celtics middle america connection.

by nazzbo on Dec 3, 2008 7:57 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Not that I don’t like the loss, but I plan to hold off the gloating until the end of tonight’s game, just in case…

by kozlodoev on Dec 3, 2008 8:44 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Pacers...

Are playing well, but part of that is the Bobcats syndrome. Teams think it’s going to be an easy game and then are caught playing catch up.

Granger is definitely a talent. Obie still has his 3 ball approach. It works sometimes, but his players have to hit a high percentage.

by LuckyNumber07 on Dec 3, 2008 8:48 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Celtics should move to #1 in power rankings

More wins, tougher schedule, tougher conference (yes it is now), and the same amount of losses. I say they are #1

by michael32951 on Dec 3, 2008 8:55 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Who do we thank?

Do we Thank the Pacers? 14-1, The Lakers easily considered by others as “The best in the league”, 14-2? Game and a half behind the Celtics, both loses against eastern teams, bringing up the question of whether the West is truly better than the east. (Last I checked Eastern Conference currently owns the West head to head…Not even close)

Do we Thank the Lakers? For losing their focus and giving up an almost sure win? For giving up the best record in the league and softening the Pacers up for us at the same time?

Bottom Line: Ball is on our court. All these thing don’t matter unless we beat the Pacers tonight.

by afflatus on Dec 3, 2008 9:29 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Do any reg. season game really matter that much against the Pacers?

by NoraG1 on Dec 3, 2008 9:51 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Now that's the Faker D I've waiting on.

Tony Allen > Dearly departed JP

by Birdbrain on Dec 3, 2008 11:07 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

yes the games all matter until

we are solidly ahead in the race for the best record.
Random things: I don’t like that Tony may be out tonight. He has been important to say the least.

Cleveland worries me more than the fakers. PP owns Kobe, i have been telling everyone for more than a year. No sense worrymg about the fakers because PP owns the key match up. I can’t find the statistical data base I had found last year that showed how they have done against each other for their careers, but suffice it to say that if you count that match up as even, the rest of the matchups including the becnh are just quite lopsided. Watch Perk get Bynum in foul trouble again this year too.

PP doesn’t own LeBron, and the Cavs are big, really big. Powe and Baby will have to play well consistently, and we may need a big long guy(PJ) to improve the match ups. And though our back court is better, we won’t be able to afford Ray being cold the whole series. Lets not forget we stopped Lebron cold for almost the entire series and we will need to do it again.

I don’t see any other challenges.

by wahz on Dec 3, 2008 11:19 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=piercpa01&p2=bryanko01

and paul pierce may not own lebron, but he holds his own against him

http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=piercpa01&p2=jamesle01

…for any other head-to-head stats go here : http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/h2h_finder.cgi

by thecaptain34 on Dec 3, 2008 12:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Cleveland's not the big concern.

If the Celtics are playing their kind of defense, James and the LeBrons won’t beat them in a seven game series. They’re too one-dimensional, especially with Rondo choking the life out of Mo Williams.

The Lakers are a bigger threat because they have more options.

by no kidding on Dec 3, 2008 3:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs