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Last night the Indiana Pacers lost to the Chicago Bulls and fell to ninth in the East, out of the playoffs — at least for now — but maybe forever. That we’re still talking about the Pacers in playoff terms at all is incredible after Lance Stephenson left, Paul George broke his leg and Roy Hibbert, George Hill, David West and the partridge in the pear tree all struggled with injuries early in the season. There’s an unconfirmed rumor that management considered changing mascots from Boomer to the Black Knight from ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’. And yet, even after everything, the thought of missing the playoffs at this stage feels like a huge disappointment.
It will be interesting to look back on this season in five or 10 years when it can be put in its proper context. Then we can say, “Remember when the Pacers got the No. 1 seed in the East but went 16-15 in February and March and then in 2015 did basically did opposite?”
This 2015 team, bless their hearts, is as hard to watch as it is not to love. They win ugly and they lose ugly. They miss a lot of shots. They can’t seem to figure out free throws. But they don’t quit.
I’m a Pacers fan living in Chicago, and it’s hard not to look at the Bulls now and wonder if the Pacers are on a similar trajectory. They both are better known for their defense than their scoring — except last night that punk Mike Dunleavy got hot from three-point range and earned all of the Bulls ticket holders free Big Macs after the game, which they redeemed immediately. They’ve both had to learn how to play without their stars. The biggest difference is Chicago’s had more experience trying to integrate their star back into the lineup.
When I got the tickets to the Pacers-Bulls game last night, there was a teeny, tiny rumor that George might be playing by now. It might have been his second game back. That was worth the gamble for me. Since then, the rumors of his return have relaxed. The waning of those rumors have been directly proportional to the team’s win percentage, coincidence or not. I don’t think George is capable of messing up team chemistry or any of that nonsense. I just think it’s been a long, mentally and physically challenging season for this team.
I’ve run enough half marathons to know that the hardest thing to do is to pass a slower runner at the end of the race. It takes so much energy to get around someone, even if you are technically faster. That was the feeling I got from this Pacers team last night. They might be faster, but they don’t have enough energy left to do anything about it. But that doesn’t make the story of this season any less worthy.
Bethany Robison is an Indianapolis Colts writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow her on Twitter @BethanyRobison and add her to your network on Google.
