Clearly, my hottest take in the rankings is placing the Indiana Pacers ahead of both the Celtics and 76ers. Coming into the season I felt the Pacers should’ve been considered among the teams contending for a home court seed. Through 26 games their third ranked defense speaks to why.
Furthermore, they land here more because of how they’ve performed while missing their star Victor Oladipo. With Dipo out the Pacers amassed a 7-4 record with three of those losses coming on the road. And yet, they are one of six teams who have an above .500 record both at home and on the road (Raptors, Celtics, Nuggets, Thunder and Kings).
This squad is scrappy with excellent role players and are a nightmare matchup for certain top Eastern squads (hello Milwaukee). Although Tyreke Evans hasn’t translated into the producer most expected it’s still early enough that he might transcend into what the Pacers hoped as he spends more time in McMillan’s system.
Indiana has two big games on tap in week nine (Bucks, 76ers). How the Pacers fare in those matches will be very influential in where I rank the squad next week.
Indiana Pacers:
Offensive Rating: 20th
Defensive Rating: 3rd
Net Differential: 7th
Points per game: 106.0 (25th)
Offensive field goal efficiency: 47.5 percent (6th)
Opponent points per game: 101.5 (1st)
Opponent field goal efficiency: 44.1 percent (3-way tie 3rd)
Record: 4th in EC
Home: 8-4
Road: 8-6
Back to back sets: 5
- First game record: 4-1
- Second game record: 5-0
Versus the East: 10-3
West: 6-7
Week eight 3-0: Wins Bulls, Kings @ Magic
On tap for week 9: vs. Wizards, Bucks, @76ers, Knicks