Clippers 87, Pacer 64: There's Ugly, Then There's This

The Clippers put the Pacers on ice early. (Photo: AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

The Pacers put me to sleep by halftime last night and by looking at the second half this morning they did nothing that would've kept me awake in the second half. In the end the Pacers played draft lottery level basketball, dumping their fifth straight game, this time to the Clippers, 87-64. The Clippers are taking credit for a great defensive effort and they have every right to do so. But, come on, the Clips just had to show up last night because the Pacers obviously didn't. The Pacers didn't score 20 points in any of the four quarters despite having plenty of shots. Ugh. Here's a game story from Mark Montieth. Other notes:

• Carlisle did indeed shake up the starting line up, going with Jeff Foster for Troy Murphy in an effort to get a little more scoring coming off the bench. Unfortunately Foster was on the bench after 3 minutes with 2 fouls. Within 30 seconds of his return he had a third foul and ended up only playing 7 minutes. Murphy was 2-8 from the field contributing nicely to the Pacers' awful shooting night.
• Marquis Daniels didn't play for the Pacers, but the Clippers started the game in worse injury shape missing Sam Cassell and Shaun Livingston.
• The Pacers were down 13 at the half but the way they were playing it seemed like in insurmountable deficit. It was.
• No Pacer who played more than 10 minutes shot over 50 percent for the night. Danny Granger was 2-8 and more alarmingly, Quinn Buckner noted his release is completely screwed up pushing the ball off target. Are the misses getting to his head?
• Here we are again at .500 with playoff hopes in serious jeopardy. I can't see how Carlisle can return next year if the Pacers can't turn it around and make the playoff. A new voice will be needed to get some different results out of these guys.
• The Pacers have two days off before playing at the Sacramento Kings. I have a feeling Ronnie will feel better about playing the Pacers at home. No excuse not to be ready.