Pacers played well through two and half quarters like always. The wheels almost came off at the end, but they were able to pull through. Different look (?) for the Pacers tonight on offense too - I like that high post game they were playing with West. The Pacers run into problems when the ball is in the hands of the wrong players. West did have 5 TOs but he handled the ball a lot on each possession and made nice passes to cutting players like Hibbert and Stephenson.

The Pacers need to keep the ball out of Paul George's hands as much as possible. This will be better for the team in the long run. He should have a two dribble rule - two dribbles, shoot or two dribbles pass. Three dribbles or more = turnovers. Also, Pacers need to push the ball more in transition. They forced the Lakers into bad shots, grabbed the rebound and brought the ball up at half speed too many times. Without Collison and Jones, the team looks a lot slower and less tenacious on defense. In any case, if the Pacers can push the ball up the court on missed shots and refine their high post sets, they can do some damage even without Granger. They will not win a championship with this roster but they'll make things exciting.