Pacers battle back...but fall to the Hawks

It was one of those tough afternoons at work as issue after issue continued to arise delaying my departure to grab dinner with my girlfriend of two years.  To complicate the situation we were celebrating two years of being together with this dinner – and I was late.  As any man who has been in a relationship for more than a few months knows – never be late to a special dinner or you will pay. 

Tonight the Indiana Pacers had a night much like my afternoon.  After losing a tough game in Chicago the Pacers had to play a tough Atlanta team at home.  In the first half the defense looked like Swiss cheese and the Pacers fell behind to the Hawks by as many as 16.  I had a pit in my stomach as I started to think about the Pacers team that went on a five game losing streak.  Then all of a sudden the Pacers turned the game around.

Led by the scoring of David West and defensive efforts of Paul George, Roy Hibbert and Danny Granger the Pacers marched back into the game cutting the lead to 4 at halftime and took the lead late in the 3^rd quarter.  The Pacers continued to eliminate the Hawks lead and then the Hawks would hit some three pointers to pull away.  In the end the Pacers weren’t able to overcome the deficit and win the game – falling to the Hawks 101 – 96.  The Pacers did get the crowds blood pumping at the end because they stopped letting the Hawks control the game. 

Tonight displayed that in order for the Pacers to continue being competitive and win games they must do the following:

1.      Play strong man to man defense   

2.      Move the ball to keep the defense on their toes, finding the open man

3.      Drive vertically and pass horizontally    

I made sure to handle issues at work in a timely manner and the dinner turned out to be a success.  Luckily I was able to turn my evening around because I have an amazing girlfriend.  The Pacers weren’t so lucky but fans should feel good about this game because after a poor start the Pacers battled back.  This young Pacers team has always done well when opening a big lead and battling in a close game but when they give up a big lead they let the opponents control the tempo.  Tonight that Pacers regained control of the game and almost pulled out a win.