The Pacers Road Woes Continue

The last six games for the Indiana Pacers have been a strange stretch to say the least. They started with a long four game west coast trip, where they lost every game. That’s right 0-4 on the road trip. In the first three games they played well in the first half. They were either leading or only down a few points in at halftime in all three of them. Then the Pacers came out of the locker room and they seemingly forgot how to play basketball. The Monstars took their powers and only gave them back when the fourth quarter was halfway through and it was too little too late.

In the fourth game, after hanging around for one quarter against the Warrior, the Pacers were blown out. Let’s be honest though, I do not think there was one person who honestly believed we would beat the Warriors, especially since it was the last game of the trip. As always though, the Pacers brought my hope back by annihilating the best team in the Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse by 36! The troubles were behind us. We were back. Eastern Conference Finals here we come! That feeling carried over into halftime of the Pacers vs. Thunder game in Oklahoma City on Wednesday. The Pacers were firing on all cylinders and had a 54-45 lead against he-who-must-not-be-name and the Thunder. Somehow, I undoubtedly always allow myself to get excited for these leads on the road. My brain knows I should not be, but my heart wants to believe. So it happened, and of course my heart was broken as the Thunder went on a 24-0 run to start the third quarter. As if that were not enough, the run was broken by a Tyreke Evans layup, which was an anomaly in itself.

Tyreke Evans goes in for a layup against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Photo Credit: Getty Images

If anything has shown itself over the past six games, it is now more than ever the Pacers need to hang on to the four seed with everything they have. They have to have home court advantage going into the playoff, as this team is completely different on the road than they are at home.

Home games have me like this:

And the second half of road games have me like this:

I am not quite sure what happens to the Pacers in the third quarter. Maybe it is because, without Vic, they do not have someone to take over the game when things get rough or maybe the Pacers are just cursed (which by the way I believe is 100% possible).

If the Pacers are going to make it to the second round of the playoffs they are going to have to beat out the Celtics. Making Friday’s game the most important game of the season. If the Pacers are going to figure out how to win on the road, Friday is the night. They currently have a one game lead on the Celtics with the season series tied at one a piece. I am going to go with my heart again over my brain, as I think Thad Young will not allow the Pacers to lose this game and I hope more than anything in the world that I am right.

The Pacers play Friday night, March 29, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. on Fox Sports Indiana and on NBA TV. The game can also be found on radio on 1070 The Fan or 107.5 FM.