IC Cold Links: Pacers Players, Coaches Vent Frustration After Getting Crushed By Heat

The words were concise, the frustration was apparent and the mood was palpable even back in her in snow-covered Indiana.

After the Indiana Pacers suffered a 114-80 defeat, its worst loss of the season, to the Heat on Sunday, players and coaches attempted to put the story in their own words. Troy Murphy called it "a piss-poor effort", coach Jim O'Brien answered questions about his team quitting on him and his staff, and T.J. Ford was trying to keep his friends by not pointing any fingers.

That's what happens after your team allows the opposition to play dunking games during an NBA contest. As Mike Wells notes in his blog, the Heat slammed home the basketball 13 times last night, and eventually began tallying the count from the sidelines as players tried to outdo one another on each possession. The fun didn't make its way over to the Pacers bench.

Dahntay Jones, who along with starter Earl Watson, were part of the a terrible tandem in the backcourt that went scoreless and missed all four shot attempts in 33 minutes of play. Wells reported that Jones sat alone in the locker room long after his teammates had retreated to the team bus. Sounds like a wonderful time.

Here's what O'Brien had to say after Wells asked if the team had quit on him: "Certainly after getting beat this badly that's a very legitimate question. I thought we competed when we got behind (against Atlanta). We competed when we got behind tonight. After that everybody played bad basketball. I don't know if we have enough speed in our starting line up. Clearly we are not getting it done. The last couple of games we have not scored well. We need to continue to re-evaluate everything."

Check out more links after the jump.

• Box Score
• NBA.com Recap
• AP Story
• The Pacers Inside the Game post looks into the ineptness of Indiana's starting lineup as for the second game in a row, Troy Murphy was the only starter in double figures. He scored 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting, but missed four of eight free throws and pulled just two rebounds, which he should be able to do in his sleep. Apparently, this game was a nightmare for him. The rest of the starters combined to produce 10 points on 4-of-19 shooting while committing 12 turnovers.
• Mike Wells recaps the game for the Indianapolis Star.
• In his game notebook, Wells gives us an update on Danny Granger, who did some light shooting on the court this weekend for the first time since being shut down. Unfortunately, Wells notes that there is still no timetable for a time when DG will start running and exercising on the court.
• The Miami Herald gives the perspective from South Beach. Check out other Miami looks into this one from the Palm Beach Post and the Peninsula Is Mightier.
• For one of the other inept teams of the Central Division, they are going to get a coaching change. The Bulls are ready to dump Vinny Del Negro, according to ESPN.
• Also from ESPN, the Daily Dime names the backcourt duo of Earl Watson and Dahntay Jones as the worst of the weekend.