The Indiana Pacers trail the Atlanta Hawks, 3-2, heading into Game 6 of their NBA first-round playoff series on Thursday night in Atlanta. If Indiana can’t win the next two games, the top seed in the Eastern Conference will be sent home before the first full week of May. It’s hard to realize that this is the same Indiana team that dominated through the first three months of the season and looked like an NBA title contender just before the All-Star break. Indiana looked like a better team than the Miami Heat, but everything has unraveled quickly.
Here’s what’s wrong with the team:
First, Roy Hibbert is spent and in a state of crisis as a basketball player. Hibbert didn’t get a single point or rebound at home in Game 5 against Atlanta. This is a center who was the main reason Indiana almost defeated Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago. Hibbert is a rim-protecting defender whose length was often enough to deter LeBron James from going to the hoop. Most people think that Hibbert is exhausted. Yet, why has he completely fallen off the map? He has certainly lost confidence and is not able to hit shots with any consistency. He’s been poor at both ends of the court, not just one. There’s no reason for coach Frank Vogel to even bother playing Hibbert anymore.
Second, Indiana just doesn’t rotate well on defense. The Pacers have allowed hot shooters to get the better of them in this series against the Hawks. Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap, and recently Mike Scott have all torched Indiana’s defense, and the Pacers’ defenders are simply not closing out on shooters. They react way after the pass to the shooter has been made, and they don’t get there in time.
Third, the team just isn’t listening to head coach Frank Vogel. Whether this is a lack of confidence or a psychological meltdown is hard to say. Yet, Indiana just doesn’t believe in itself or trust its coach as much as it did at the end of January. Why this has happened is a mystery, but right now, it’s clear that the coach doesn’t have the trust of his players.
The Pacers are still alive, though. They are a one-point favorite in Atlanta on Thursday night.
