IC Cold Links: Pacers Look Super, Bowl Over Nets For A Perfect Week

The Indiana Pacers and interim coach Frank Vogel had a pretty good week.

A week that started last Monday with the Pacers in 10th place in the East, hoping to work their way back into the playoff mix ended yesterday afternoon with that initial task completed. A perfect 4-0 record and some fortuitous losses by Milwaukee, Charlotte and Philadelphia has the Pacers currently in eight place in the East and just one game behind the Sixers for the seventh spot.

Now the real fun begins.

Week two for the new look Pacers will be much more revealing. Forget the tall task of taking on the Miami Heat who will be motivated to avenge their loss to the Pacers earlier in the season. I'm more intrigued by the games this week against Charlotte and Milwaukee, the two teams the Pacers hurdled this week in the standings.

Charlotte has played better since their own coaching change, but have struggled with a tough schedule of late. The Pacers have beaten the Bobcats twice already, so there's no doubt the Pacers will see a motivated team on Wednesday night.

Milwaukee has also been struggling recently, dropping their last four games, but they have been a nightmare for the Pacers and playing in Milwaukee on Saturday night will be a huge test for the Pacers. How this team handles the Charlotte and Milwaukee games will give us a strong indication of how much they've grown as a team and whether they can sustain their level of play during key games on the schedule.

After the jump, a few links from the win yesterday.

• Box score
• PACERS: Game Rewind: Pacers at New Jersey
  Game Rewind has highlights, analysis, notes, quotes and stats from the Pacers-Nets game Sunday in New Jersey.
• Progress: Pacers stop the run, beat Nets
  Mike Wells reports on the Pacers adjusting to counter a run in yesterday's game, which they often struggled to do earlier in the season.
• AP: Jones scores 18, Pacers top Nets 105-86
• Nets lose third straight game, fall to Indiana Pacers, 105-86
  Colin Stephenson reports on the Pacers' win keeping the Nets reeling.
• New Jersey Nets done in by icy shooting, Indiana Pacers roll to 105-86 victory at Prudential Center
  Stefan Bondy reports on the Pacers rolling over the Nets.
• Make it four in a row
  Mike Wells finds a positive vibe running through the Pacers' locker room which seems to carry over to their play on the court.
• Dahntay Jones' play makes roster call tougher for Pacers
  Mike Wells notest that Dahntay Jonesis creating a good problem for Vogel, plus the coach earned the W in front of family and friends from New Jersey and Mike Dunleavy was likely celebrating the Pacers Super Bowl win last night.
• NBA: Pacers Pick Up Fourth Straight Win Under Vogel, Routing New Jersey 105-86 - SB Nation Indiana
• Vogel's dream lands him spot with Pacers
  Mike Wells interviews Frank Vogel revealing just how this 37-year-old coach ended up coaching the Pacers.

• Marquis Daniels Bruises Spinal Cord In Celtics' Win, Will Miss 1-2 Months - SBNation.com
  Scary scene for Quisy yesterday. Thankfully he'll be fine, although not playing anytime soon.

• Stephen Jackson is not changing just because of your little fines | ProBasketballTalk