Indiana Pacers  (26-18)  110

The Indiana Pacers have now lost two games in a row, which hasn’t happened since early December   It was the NBA’s longest streak of games at 22.  It’s a small slump for the team, but hopefully things can get turned right back around. Last night in Utah, things did get interesting thanks to a run late late late in the fourth quarter that pulled things even.

It looked like the Pacers were dead in the water with about 3 minutes to go and being down 8 points.  Gordon Hayward, an Indiana native, coughs up three turnovers that helped the Pacers pull even to end the game.  In overtime, the Jazz go on a run of 6 straight points to pull away, and get the 114-110 win. That 114 points is the most this Pacers team has given up in the season. It’s not surprise that the last two games have been losses for the team as they’re not ones to give up that many points.  Two games right at 100 and at 114 aren’t the way this Pacers team can play.  They’re not built to score a lot of points, and when your defense is allowing just under 90 points per game, but putting up 91 it’s a struggle to keep putting up points.

But there’s some good in this game as three guys went over 20 points for the Pacers.  Paul George leads the way with 24 points.  David West chips in 23 points and George Hill gets 22 points.  Come Monday night against the Denver Nuggets, those three guys will have to be right around those same totals for the Pacers to keep up with the Nuggets.

You really have to give the Pacers credit for ability to bounce back after a loss, and now that it’s been two losses, it should be interesting to see what they can do on Monday night. I hope that Coach Frank Vogel comes up with some inspiring way to get this team right back to where they should be.  At least they didn’t lose any position in the division and Eastern Conference standings. The Chicago Bulls lost, so their lead is still a half game up in the division.  The Knicks and Nets go down as well, so they are right there at 2 and 3 in the Conference. It goes to show a couple of games can really slide you up or down in the tight races.

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Utah Jazz (23-20)

This is one the Pacers have to get tonight.  The Jazz are coming off playing last night against the Lakers, and on the losing end.  The Pacers have had a couple of days off since that bad loss to the Blazers, which they allowed way too many good shots by the Blazers.  Time to rev up the defense against the Jazz, and show that they’re ready to be in control of the Central Division.  They dropped to .5 back of the Chicago Bulls and drop to 5th in the Eastern Conference.  It goes to show how a win or loss can really hurt in the standings.

If the Pacers want to win tonight, they’ll need to do some of the same things they did when they handled the Jazz in Indiana.  They were able to control the paint and get points down there. I would look for Roy Hibbert to get some touches, and get him going against the Jazz.  David West should look to be a big scoring option as well with the success of the post presence last game out.

Paul George should be able to continue his All Star play that was solidified with an All Star selection on Thursday night.   No time to sit back and enjoy that as the Pacers will need his best tonight.  Come All Star break, George can sit back and enjoy that.  But tonight’s it’s time to step up the game, and get the Pacers to that victory.

It probably won’t be as easy as last game against Utah, as the Pacers have really had troubles out there on the road.  They’ve allowed 106 while playing out in Utah.  That can’t happen tonight as the Pacers hardly score 100 points.  They’ll need to keep it down below 90 to get that defensive prowess back.  I think the Pacers come out and get the win in this one.  Then get ready for the tough game against Denver.