"Little things" has become the theme around this place after watching so many close losses by the Pacers and then considering the little things that went against the Pacers throughout the game thay may have changed the outcome.

Often the little turning points are self-inflicted problems usually centered around turnovers. Other times they are simply bad bounces that sees a good effort wiped away by bad luck.

For example, in the first quarter, Chris Paul cut backdoor on Jarrett Jack, but Roy Hibbert knocked down the pass to Paul that  would've given him an easy layup. Nice play by the big fella to deflect the pass, but the ball bounced a couple of times and ended up right in Paul's hands. He snapped it back out to David West for an 18-footer which he drained. Instead of a turnover the play ends up with two points for the Hornets and nullified a potential four-point swing. Little things.

Chris Paul did another little thing that happened right in front of me otherwise I probably wouldn't have noticed. The Hornets started the half with the ball, which they checked in from the baseline where I was sitting. Instead of taking the inbounds pass immediately and taking it up to start the half, Paul let the ball bounce up to just before the half court line before picking it up and starting the clock.

I made a quick note with this question: Will those three seconds make a difference?

Considering David West's game winner went through the net with about 2.5 seconds left in the game, I'd say the answer is yes. Little things.