First Quarter Update
Second Quarter Update

The Pacers shot 33% (8-24) in the second quarter. I'd estimate that all 16 missed shots hit the front rim. Pacers need to dig deep on a tired night. The scoreboard doesn't recognize excuses.

Kareem Rush makes an early appearance with 9:32 left in the half and the Pacers down 63-55. His legs should be fresh, hopesully his jumper is, too.

Oops, Flip brought back one of those handle-free turnovers from Philly. Get the O going again, Flip.

Umm, fellas...I keep waiting for signs of life, something to tell me everything will work out well tonight. Still waiting. 6:32 left in 3Q, Bobcats up 68-60. O'B give Travis and Shawne Williams a try.

Hello, Shawne. 4 hits his first look. Feel free to take the team on a little run SW.

Emeka Okafor's offensive game really hasn't developed much. BUT, he keeps getting the ball righ under the hoop. Ack!

3-balls starting to fall. Travis and then Dun. Keep 'em coming, boys.

Bring in J.O., please. Nazr Mohammed, Ryan Hollins and Emeka Okafor are combining to play like a pretty good big man and their having too much fun inside.

And there's J.O. quickly getting into the action and drawing a foul.

TO - 2:55 left in 3Q, Pacers down 79-71. Only down eight, but the stress of the situation makes it seem insurmountable. Need a little run to tighten things up before the end of the quarter.

And to make me feel worse, the Hawks are up 2 (65-63) over the Celtics.

It seems like the players are going to the well, but there's nothing there. Can't hang onto the ball. Shots are missing. Is this how it's going to end, against an orange clad Bobcats team who are are just taking what they're given.

End 3Q: Bobcats 84, Pacers 74

Hawks up 71-67 with 3:43 left in 3Q.

First Quarter Update

J.O., Dun, Foster, Marquis, and Travis begin 2Q and ramp up the D.

I know Earl Boykins is small, but Earl Boykins is small, and he just drained a nice jumper.

Bobcats go to the zone. Quisy for threesy! Sorry.

8:01 TO, tied 40-40. Everyday hero time. Sawyer Willis, Mike Sprowl, Alyssa Kistler, and Kamilla Benko eanred the honor for dealing with special needs situations in their lives.

Nice highlight montage of past playoffs. Man, I miss Reggie. Reminds me that you never know what will happen, so you might as well be in the mix if you can.

Of course, it helps if you make a shot. Ack, Quis just short-armed a couple of open shots. Pacers down 44-40.

Granger returns to the game and he quickly scores a couple of buckets. J.O. back to the bench after about 10 minutes.

Uh-oh. Pacers struggling to make a shot. Bobcats up 55-46 with 3:04 left in half.

Kareem Rush sighting. The Pacers are looking for someone to put the ball in the hole. Rush missed his first 3-ball. Time to just stay near ten at the half and then regroup.

Danny and Dun help the Pacers finish the half in good shape.

Halftime: Bobcats 57, Pacers 52 Celitics up 48-40 with 3:31 left in the half in Atlanta.

Seems like more people in the upper level than in past games. Plenty of cheap tickets available, at least more people are showing up.

Big ups to the Kitley Intermediate Orchestra string section for knocking out the National Anthem. Middle school strings never squeaked less.

Bobcats start small with Jared Dudley at forward and Emeka Okafor at center.

Danny Granger drains his first shot, a 3-ball, picking up right where he left off last night. Good sign.

Flip and Foster pick and roll, a thing of beauty. Didn't think I'd ever type that phrase, especailly two months ago.

Oops, I just let out an "Ohh!!!" You'll know why when you see the break-away 360 dunk from Jason Richardson on SportsCenter tonight.

7:45 - Pacers down 17-9. Clanky, clanky. Going to have to keep grinding until Charlotte relents.

Dun, Flip, Granger..19-17 Charlotte, Bobcats take a TO. Flip can just create works of art getting to the bucket sometimes.

Seat upgrade contest. Oh, no contest. Instead a couple just had to go to mid-court with Boomer and endure a little public embarrassment, then the courtside seats were theirs. Not a bad deal.

Pace is pretty good, much better than last night. Start hitting some shots and the Pacers should be fine. Thanks, Flip right on cue. Charlotte up 23-22 with 4:07 left in 1Q.

Jermaine O'Neal enters game with 3:42 left in game. He seemed poised to play more than 20 minutes last night, but they ended up not needing it. We'll see what happens tonight. First possession, J.O. scores!

TO - Pacemates kickin' it to a little Patti Labelle, 'New Attitude' remix. Firing up that 45-60 year old woman demo.

Jason Richardson is so freakin' athletic. Fortunately he likes to stay around the arc and pop 3-balls. He's 2 of 5 from 3-land. Yeah, it's still the first quarter. His jumper is a thing of beauty, though.

End 1Q: Pacers 33, Bobcats 32

Granger with 11 and Flip with 9, lead the way.

After 1Q in Atlanta: Celtics 30, Hawks 22

As I've expressed before, I like Ron Artest. I root for Ron Artest. I would love to see Ronnie move beyond all of his past issues, and just let his delightfully unorthodox game take the league by storm. I've followed the ups and downs of Ronnie's career over the past few years and have conditioned myself to keep an even keel about anything positive. That's because no matter how much good will Ronnie builds up, he has a tendency to lose it in the blink of an eye. The declarations of transformation are many. The hope that "this transformation will stick" have been crushed at the same rate.

It looks like Sactown is getting sucked into the the "Ronnie has changed" talk with his recent trip to do some incredible work in Africa. There is no doubt in my mind that his trip to Africa has made a profound impact on Ronnie and his comments about the life-changing experience are genuine. The only problem is, when Ronnie gets back to the States and begins another season, his mindset won't be the same as it was in Kenya. The guy has a good heart and loves doing good work. He knows how to express that to the media, as well. But don't expect what you hear from Ronnie on a Wednesday to sync with what he's thinking on a Saturday. He may express his deepest thoughts in July, but the same depth of thought in November may be completely different.

Regardless of how Ronnie may flake out on the Kings, his initiatives to help in Nairobi are impressive. I sincerely hope Ronnie follows through with his plans in Nairobi. He'd be leaving a legacy that dwarfs anything (good or bad) that he's done on the basketball court.

Well, so much for hoping to get Jason Kapono with the midlevel excpetion. Hours into the open free agent period, Kapono signed a four year deal with the Raptors. Man, we didn't even have time to develop a little buzz for the guy. Yeesh, back to Kareem Rush. Good thing he went to Missouri because Rush will have to show me something before I raise an eyebrow of interest if he is signed.

I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for the Stan Van era to begin. It isn't easy. From all indications, Stan Van Gundy is the Pacers leading candidate after a lengthy second interview (negotiation) this week. As I succinctly expressed after news of his first interview hit, Stan Van isn't my idea of an exciting, inspired coach. Mark Montieth calls SVG a "vanilla candidate" and I have to agree.

Sure he'll give us some great one-liners, I can appreciate a good quip. And two or three classic facial contortions a night caught by a camera is great fodder for this blog. But can he inspire developing talent to work through tough times in the now while continuing to work toward achieving greatness in the future? Not an easy task and not many can do it, but that's kind of what I'm looking for in a coach.

Since a coach meeting my expectations isn't currently pre-packaged and waiting on the shelf for a job, I'd still prefer Larry Joe Legend take a chance on an assistant coach that may have it in him if given the opportunity. At this point, betting on the unknown is worth the risk. There's still a chance that Van Gundy will get an offer from Sacramento that he likes better and LJL will be forced to make a bold move on an assitant coach to his liking. If not, and Van Gundy starts coaching at the Fieldhouse, hopefully he can guide the ship through the current rough waters until the team and talent are back to a level where a stronger coach would be enticed to come in a take the Pacers to a higher level. Barring a miracle in the lottery, this is going to be a long, strange trip.

Well, I guess that's what happens when you match D'Antoni Suns' ball with the All-Star Game. Forget 8 seconds, we're talking 5 seconds to shoot. The West kept running and shooting until suddenly they were up by 20 and never looked back. This AP recap by Brian Mahoney blames the sloppy play and lopsided game on the party atmosphere in Vegas. That's OK, they should hold the game in Vegas every year. No place does over-the-top, schlocky glitz and glamour like Vegas and it did it all right for the All-Star game. Was it just me, or is Wayne Newton's plastic surgeon using the leftover Orange Roundie material for face lifts?

As far as the Pacers are concerned, the All-Star Game was a huge success. Sure I wanted to see a close, thrill-filled game worthy of the Vegas hype. But my priority for the game revolved around NOT seeing Jermaine O'Neal in a heap on the floor, clutching his knee.  So, from that perspective, mission accomplished. J.O. finished with 8 points and 7 rebounds. He also added to the bizarre sloppiness of the game by accidentally tipping in a rebound attempt for a West basket shortly after he entered the game.

Two more days of rest (with no arrests) and the Pacers should be ready to go against Bucks on Wednesday.

LoNny is in the house! The IC Line of the Night makes a star-studded debut on SB Nation with Kobe Bryant's MVP line from the Vegas All-Star game. Nice effort East, thanks for showing up.

Danny Granger took his turn under the bright Vegas lights of All-Star Weekend representing the Pacers in the Rookie-Sophomore game on Friday night. Granger teamed up with the Sophs to destroy the Rooks, 155-114. Points were plentiful and Granger chipped in with 17 points.  This game really does nothing for me, but since they literally play it for the kids, I guess it's a good thing for the host city.