Will Inconsistency End The Pacers?

The Indiana Pacers were back! We all declared in Game 4 of their series with the Washington Wizards.

Indiana was one of the most dominant teams in the NBA during most of the regular season. Teams feared them. When they went toe-to-toe with the Miami Heat the game was declared a battle of the best.

Toward the end of the season the Pacers began slipping. They dropped a lot of games they should not have, but no worries. They had won so many games during the season that they still clung on to pick up the No.1 seed in the Eastern Conference. They would get back to good ball in the playoffs.

However, the No.8 seeded Atlanta Hawks, a team the Pacers should have steamrolled in five games maximum, pushed the Pacers to the brink of elimination with a Game 7.

Things did not look much better in Round 2, as the Pacers lost their opening game to the Washington Wizards. However, a few great performances later and we all collectively agreed that the Pacers were back.  In retrospect that declaration was a bit premature, as the Pacers dropped Game 5 to the Wizards 102-79.

How did this happen? I mean Paul George had a 39-point outing in Game 4. Roy Hibbert seemed to have finally shaken his playoff jitters. The Pacers had beat the Wizards three games straight and then a complete meltdown happens.

Indiana is a good enough team to beat anyone, as they showed during the regular season, but they can also be bad enough to almost lose a best-of-seven series to the Hawks.

Inconsistency is clearly this team’s biggest issue, and it could likely end the Pacers playoff run in this series. But even if Indiana makes it past the Wizards, It is likely that the Miami Heat will be waiting for them on the other side and it is at that point that their inconsistency will cause their downfall.

Besides, are we not at the point now where we can all lower our expectations of the Indiana Pacers.