Persistent Indiana Pacers Are Winners Already by Managing to Stay in East Race

INDIANAPOLIS — Considering the man in charge and the culture created in Indiana, it shouldn't be any surprise that, even after a confluence of unfair circumstances, the Pacers haven't tossed in the towel in the hope of a lottery lifeline.

Not following the gruesome fracture of Paul George's leg. 

Not after the absences, of 15 games or more, of core players David West, George Hill and C.J. Watson.

Not after dropping to 1-6, 9-19 and 17-32.

That's not what Larry Bird teams do.

So now, after the Pacers won their seventh in nine games, 93-86 against the Cavaliers, they're in eighth in the muddled, manic, rather meek East. That, in its own way, is every bit the accomplishment as stumbling down the stretch and still fulfilling the 2013-14 goal of securing the top seed.

And, now, simply by staying alive, they're starting to see some of the breaks, as well as sprains and strains, even out, as Friday marked the fifth straight game the Pacers played a team missing its top scorer. The Cavaliers were missing their top two—LeBron James and Kyrie Irving—and dropped to 2-9 without James this season. 

"We still think in this locker room that we need to be in the playoffs, and we're still one of the top teams in the East," said Hill, who posted his first career triple-double Friday. "Even though our record doesn't speak for it, with all the injuries." 

And, for Indiana, there's more good news coming.

First, there's a relatively soft schedule, with 14 of the final 24 games at home, starting with visits from the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks, two teams for which unexpected wins create worries, since they can reduce the number of ping-pong balls they get.

Then, there's the prospect of George's return, after the All-Star forward finished a full practice Thursday and continued to maintain that he's aiming for a mid-March return. 

"We're approaching it like we're not gonna get Paul back," coach Frank Vogel said. "And we've got to become as good a team as possible without Paul George. And if we're able to get him back, then it should give us a huge boost, obviously. But we're approaching it like he's not coming back." 

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Vogel's seemingly overcautious words aside, the Pacers' approach all season has been unlike the one that some other franchises would have taken. They knew they would lose more, but they didn't want to risk developing losing habits, the habits that can keep an organization in a rut even after the losing leads to the accumulation of seemingly more valuable draft assets.

The key is for the culture to be strong enough that it can serve as a stabilizing force. Last season, it wasn't clear that the Pacers' culture was, not as they bickered and sputtered to a 16-15 finish after a spectacular 40-11 start. 

This time around, with less talent available, the results were even worse early than anything that happened late in the 2013-14 season. But, by all accounts, the overall attitude was better.

"We did a good job of staying the course," veteran forward David West said.

The Pacers stuck with the plan—solid defense (seventh in the NBA in field-goal percentage against) and, at least some of the time, just enough balanced scoring. 

"I think the culture had a lot to do with it," Vogel said. "I did have concerns, not so much that I questioned our players' intent or anything like that, but I just know what losing does at this level. Losing separates you. And we talked about it frequently, that we have a good culture, we have a good system, we have to stay the course and try to work it and continue to try to accomplish the things we accomplished in the past.

"We guarded against separating. But it was a concern of mine. And the fact that we didn't is less of a credit to our culture, and more of a credit to the guys we have in our locker room. We've got high-character guys. That's what we built this around. That's what Larry Bird went out, even before I became the coach here, to change our identity." 

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Then, this offseason, the Pacers made more changes, though they weren't all by Bird's choice. He made an effort to keep Lance Stephenson, but not enough to the temperamental guard's liking. Bird replaced him with young veterans C.J. Miles and Rodney Stuckey, while Solomon Hill, a young, hardworking, defensive-minded forward, got elevated into a real opportunity.  

"They knew we had guys coming back, who have been here, and knew the winning culture," said Hill. "It gave them guys confidence to just go out, and they had nothing to lose. Just go out and play the game, play to win, and see where it takes us." 

It may mean we need to take a look at them in a new light. When they were challenging for the top of the East the past couple of seasons, they sometimes showed a lack of maturity with some of their comments in the media and glances at each other. This season, they've shown much more maturity, simply by seeming to stick by each other.

That certainly hasn't been easy.

Veteran forward Luis Scola said Friday that, prior to "clicking the past two or three weeks," he was concerned the team was experiencing some of the separation that Vogel spoke of.

"We were falling apart, and nothing was working, and we continued to have people hurt," Scola said. "But at some point, people got healthy, and then we started playing well and then we started winning games, and we kind of clicked, and we feel a lot better right now." 

Why didn't it come apart completely?

West has a theory. 

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"I mean, we've got grown men in this locker room," said West, who was instrumental in closing out the Cavaliers on Friday, saving an errant Hill runner from touching out of bounds and then hitting a 15-footer for a late six-point lead.

"We don't have any kids. We don't have guys that are knuckleheads or anything like that. We've got guys who are professional. We've got young guys who are trying to learn how to be professionals. We've got a good mix. When you have those components, that can get you through some tough times. We all like each other. And we've got a grown-man group, so that definitely helps." 

You can read between the lines as a reference to Stephenson if you want. The reality is, even if George returns, the Pacers will miss Stephenson's talent if they make the playoffs, his ability to make a dynamic play when it appeared that none was possible. But it's reasonable to wonder, considering the way Stephenson has struggled in Charlotte, how he would have handled even more responsibility in George's absence in Indiana, and whether the Pacers would be in as stable a spot as they presently are. 

Now the Pacers have momentum, which Scola deems a critical component entering the final stretch.

"And a lot more good things happen when you have momentum," he said. 

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And now, a team that West says has "growing confidence" and that Vogel says "could be a scary team going into the playoffs as one of the lower seeds" may get the biggest momentum boost in the East: the potential return of a player who averaged 21.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.9 steals last season.

There's no way to know what to expect, and late-season returns don't always go well; one example that comes to mind is Miami in 2000-01, when Alonzo Mourning missed the first 69 games due to kidney disease. When Mourning returned, surprise All-Star forward Anthony Mason felt he got pushed aside, and the Heat got swept out of the first round. 

"I think the better we play, and the more chemistry we have, the easier it's gonna be for him," Scola said. "But we can't rely on him. Hopefully he will be the same. Hopefully he will help us from day one. But it's unfair to rely on him. We've just got to do it ourselves. He's going to be ready towards the end of the year, and we've just got to take care of business before that. By that time, a lot of things will be on the table already, so we have to do it ourselves. And if he does come back, and he does well, he may be able to take us to the next level."

For now, though, the Pacers deserve applause simply for getting to the level they're at.