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Dre Alvarez has put together a nice table over at Wages of Wins that shows the total win/loss numbers and win percentage of current NBA owners.

I know, I’m throwing a lot of numbers stuff at you today, but hey, even people who hate math have to venture into this territory during a lockout. But don’t worry, there’s not a whole lot of math to it as he’s already done most of that for you. Continue reading this post »

Attendance numbers for sports teams have always fascinated me. And trust me, I’m not really a math guy.

But still, watching certain attendance trends is interesting. Obviously, a huge part of attendance deals with how the team is performing. Who wants to go watch a team that constantly stinks up the joint? So it’s pretty cool to be able to look at certain trends over a particular period of time. Continue reading this post »

The Golden State Warriors have announced that they will retire the No. 17 on January 20 before a scheduled home game. The number? Chris Mullin‘s, of course. The opponent that night? The Indiana Pacers.

Mullin has been on quite the run here lately. He was enshrined into the Hall of Fame last month, and now he’ll have his number retired by the team on which he started his path towards greatness. Continue reading this post »

Even though it sounds like the NBA lockout if far from over (considering how the recent negotiations went), there’s some news that is somewhat normal coming out of Indy today.

The Pacers will hold a four-day minicamp next week in order to start preparing for the upcoming season…..which may or may not happen. Continue reading this post »

When kids dream of playing basketball in the NBA, they usually strive to be just like Mike, or Kobe or LeBron or any other high-flying, above-the-rim, commercial-appeal athlete. They focus on the glory that comes with amazing audiences, hence today’s young stars’ mediocre shooting. It’s a tough task to draft a player whose shooting prowess matches his hops and ball-handling skills. That’s why when the NBA is finally graced with a good shooter, the player is around until he decides to call it quits – not often let go by teams, who all can use a clutch shooter. This is why Reggie Miller was such a valuable asset in the NBA. The Indiana Pacers were dead in the water without Miller but were perennial contenders after drafting him out of UCLA with the 11th pick in 1987.

In his career, Miller was as clutch as you could get. His three-point ability was something of legend, and his game-saving three-pointers vs. the Knicks in the playoffs are still some of the NBA’s best highlights.

Continue reading this post »

Just after facing the Boston Celtics on the road, the Indiana Pacers hope to go 13-14 at home against a tough 16-11 New Orleans Hornets team. However, I think the Pacers will upset. I am going to put it out there just like that, plain and simple. The Pacers are decent at home with a 7-6 record while the Hornets are 5-8 on the road. They have been struggling as of late, however, too.

Accu Score predicts the Pacers having a 72-percent chance of winning while New Orleans only has a 28-percent chance. The Hornets have so far lost five straight on the road.

The Hornets are recently coming off a painful 111-108 loss to the Detroit Pistons in overtime last night.

“We gave up 59 points in the second half, and that doesn’t count overtime,” coach Monty Williams said. “We just didn’t guard the ball. We kept giving them open 3-point shots when that was all they could hit.”

Chris Paul has done fairly well at Conseco Fieldhouse, averaging 20 points and 9.8 assists per game there for his career in five games. The same can not go for Danny Granger. He may average 24 points per game in his last four games versus New Orleans, but has averaged under 40-percent shooting, which leads to all the losses for Indiana.

The key for a win is depended on Granger. Another key is to stop David West down low. With Roy Hibbert down there, they  could be good to go. This is also going to be an emotional game, at least for Paul and Darren Collison. Both were teammates last season and they look to have a good time facing each other.

Pacers win.

The Indiana Pacers were heading to Boston to face on the tough Celtics, who were on a twelve-game winning-streak. I expected an upset since the team did not have Rajon Rondo. But a player put up Rondo-like stats up today, and his name was Paul Pierce. Rondo, you can rest, Pierce has got your back my friend. Pierce lighted it up, putting up a triple-double with 18 points, twelve assists, and ten rebounds. The Celtics had solid ball movement in the game, as Ray Allen piled up six assists. It was a well-played game for the C’s.

“That’s the point we make with this team. When the ball moves, there’s assists,” coach Doc Rivers said. “Guys are going to get assists and they’re getting that.”

This was Pierce’s first triple-double since 2006 against the Philadelphiaa 76ers.

“I pride myself in trying to be a complete player,” Pierce said. “Throughout the course of my career I’ve worked on a lot of things on both sides of the ball.”

Nate Robinson filled in well for Rondo, putting up 18 points. Shaq returned from injury, and he had eleven points including a great alley-oop jam over Jeff Foster in the game.

“Shaq is a big guy. When he looks up, I get his head nod and he says ‘throw it to the rim’ — that’s what I try to do,” Pierce said. “He doesn’t have to jump too high to dunk the ball, so I just try to put it right next to the rim.”

Roy Hibbert played solid, and had a big game as predicted with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Danny Granger added to it with 19 points, but it wasn’t enough for a Pacers’ victory as they drop to 12-14. The C’s improve to 22-4. Indiana shouldn’t worry, however, as they are the seventh best team in the standings in the Eastern Conference. They’ve been playing well and they are bound to have games like these.

But they gave the Celtics a competition and they showed they could possibly beat them. But sometimes it may take luck. Just ask Granger.

“They can be beat, but you have to play a near perfect game,” he said. “I think the Celtics are more talented than those other teams across the board. They probably have 40 years of All-Star games between [them].”

Indiana knows they can beat them.

But it sometimes they need to be near-perfect to beat this team.

At 12-13, the Indiana Pacers are at a good mark towards the ending of the 2010 year. As they enter 2011 for the rest of the NBA season, the playoffs need to be on their mind. And if they do in fact make it to the playoffs, they may face the team they are facing today in Boston, as they take on the Celtics. The Celtics have been rolling with a 21-4 record.

Accu Score predicts a 30-percent chance for the Pacers to win while the C’s have a 70-percent chance.

But the Pacers may have a chance at winning. Rajon Rondo is out as well as Jermaine O’Neal, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kendrick Perkins. Roy Hibbert may be having a good game. But the Celtics still have been playing very strong even without their important players. Just ask Kevin Garnett.

“What are you going to do? Quit? Put your clothes on and go home?” Kevin Garnett said. “That’s not what we do here.

“We are just out here grinding. There’s nothing else to say. Every player is giving everything they have. In order for us to win these games, we just have to give everything we have until we get guys back.”

Shaq may play but if he and Semih Erden are a no-go, then Glen Davis will make the start at center. Danny Grnager is coming off a huge game recently after suffering from an ankle injury and a slump, too, but he put up 30 points and twelve rebounds in a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Pacers somehow do pretty good in their debut match-ups against Boston, after observing from the past few seasons. The C’s are on a twelve-game win-streak.

Granger is the key to winning. If he can play like he did with the Cavs, Indiana could be good to go.

“I went through a stretch when I wasn’t being very aggressive or assertive offensively,” Granger said. “I made a point to just go out and try to be an assassin. That philosophy works better for me. Other games I’ve been coasting. I have to be aggressive.”

Indiana is so far 12-5 when Granger scores at least 18 points. Granger has struggled, however, with the Celtics in his career, scoring only 11.3 points per game. The key for the win is Roy Hibbert. He has been in a slump but if he can rebound and get the points like he has against a weak team down low (which the Celtics are right now at this point), Indiana could be good to go.

And that is why I have them for the upset.

Go Pacers!