Indiana Pacers News

Pacers Links: Pacers define laser focus against Spurs, now try to maintain against Thunder

The Pacers will return from their killer five-game road trip with more wins than losses, but after laying it all on the line in San Antonio on Saturday night, the trip could become truly special if they can muster up a similar effort in Oklahoma City on Sunday night.

By Tom Lewis@IndyCornrows Dec 8, 2013, 12:06pm EST

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When Frank Vogel or any players, really are asked about the team continually taking care of business throughout the process of amassing their current 18-2 record, they usually end up referring to 'laser focus' as some point. Paul George used the phrase last night following the Pacers win against the Spurs and if you ever wondered what laser focus means, the Pacers defined it with their thrashing of the Spurs at AT&T Center last night.

After shaking off an early ambush of high-level play from the Spurs, the Pacers just kept working both ends of the floor and gathering steam before turning into a runaway train of bringing the noise at both ends that made for an uncomfortable evening for the Spurs.

Make no mistake, the Spurs were laying in wait for the Pacers and dialed in to deliver their own message last night. That was obvious early in the game. The Spurs had a 13-10 lead, but David West was able to free himself and knock down his second mid-range jump. It required good patient offense by the Pacers, but Gregg Popovich was upset enough to quickly call a timeout.

Apparently, Coach Pop knew early that his team had no margin for error against the Pacers. When that laser focus kicked in during the second quarter, the Pacers viciously dismantled the home team. The 67 points in the second and third quarter against the NBA's second rated defense was as good as this squad has played.

It seems almost unfair to even hope for a similar effort less than 24 hours later against an elite offense like the Oklahoma City Thunder will throw at the Pacers. But surely, the Pacers will shift that focus to the next game, as they have all season and make those 2-3 hours in OKC this evening the most important hours of their life. That's what they do. Hopefully fatigue won't overcome the focus and we have another classic game to watch tonight.

The link in JJ's tweet below has comments from Paul George and David West that may inspire you to run through a brick wall. At a minimum, in DWest's words, you get a little insight into how he sets the tone for this team that is rolling right now.

Post-game comments from #pacers Paul George and David West following #impressive victory against the @spurs http://t.co/9riInxfscU
— Jeremiah Johnson (@JJFSINDIANA) December 8, 2013