Pacers keep playoff hopes alive, dominate Hornets
By TYLER SMITH
ISL Editor
(Photo by Pacers Sports and Entertainment)
INDIANAPOLIS — After a few tough road losses earlier this week, the Pacers looked to get back on track at home against the Charlotte Hornets. They dominated the last three quarters on way to a 93-74 victory, keeping their playoff hopes alive.
The Pacers led 49-38 at halftime, which was their first halftime lead since March 10th against Orlando. They have made a habit all season of falling behind opponents early in games. With this win, they improved to 20-9 in games in which they’ve had a halftime lead.
Coach Frank Vogel knew the Pacers needed this one to keep hope alive: “Our guys were hungry for a win. We’re just going to have the mindset of staying in the fight.”
With another win on Friday night, the Brooklyn Nets may be out of reach for the Pacers. The Celtics and Heat are the teams Indiana will need to catch to make the playoffs. Miami comes to town on Sunday night. “It’s easy to feel after those two losses this week that our chances have slipped away, but they haven’t,” Vogel said. “We have to take care of our business. It’s reasonable to believe we can go on a strong run to finish the season, and that’s how we’re approaching it.”
Rodney Stuckey led the Pacers with 15 points. He was a plus+26 while on the court in this one, continuing his solid play off the bench. George Hill had a rough shooting night (2-of-11), but had 10 assists and six rebounds.
The Pacers didn’t need a ton of offense considering how well their defense played. They held Charlotte to just 22 points in 24 minutes between the second and third quarters. It helps when Al Jefferson is limited to just 11 minutes of play with a sore knee.
Former Pacer Lance Stephenson checked in for the first time with just two minutes to play in the third quarter. Stephenson has been out of the rotation completely in the past week, and only played in this one because of the blowout score. He was greeted by a chorus of boos each time he touched the ball. Stephenson said he has no regrets about leaving Indiana for Charlotte. I can’t imagine too many people that actually believe him.
With just six games to play, the Pacers are keeping hope alive. Just a guess here, but the Pacers will probably need to win five of their final six games to make the playoffs. They’ve been streaky all season, which means a hot streak to end the year is still possible.
Follow Tyler on Twitter: @TylerSmith_ISL
